Junior uses interception, rushing touchdown to lead Colony to win over West Valley, into playoffs

PALMER — Within about a five-minute span, Matt Jaronik virtually single-handedly deflated West Valley’s hopes of scoring the Railbelt Conference upset.

The junior intercepted a Sam McKinstry pass in the end zone on one side of the field and five minutes later he ran a 3-yard run into the other end zone to help the Knights grab a 27-13 Railbelt win over the Wolfpack at Colony High School in Palmer on Friday.

“That bailed us out,” Colony head coach Jamie Mayo said.

West Valley held the Knights, who have the conference’s highest scoring offense with 223 points, to just a pair of scores in the first half, and trailed just 14-6 late in the third quarter.

West Valley junior defensive end Ishimael Agae recovered a Colony fumble early in the third quarter and McKinstry drove his team into the Knights’ red zone.

“They were starting to get a little momentum,” Mayo said.

But on 4th-and-8 from the 19-yard line, McKinstry tried to connect with tight end Victor Wisel in the end zone, and Jaronik made an adjustment on the ball just inside the end zone and was able to leap in front of Wisel and make the catch.

West Valley head coach Ben Johnson admitted the interception was a pivotal play in the loss, but said Colony’s ability to eat up yardage on offense in the second half was also key.

“It was a matter of who was able to put together the long drives,” Johnson said.

Following the interception, Jaronik capped a 14-play 80-yard drive with the 3-yard score that gave the Knights the 21-6 lead.

It was one of a pair of long scoring drives for the Knights in the second half. Colony ended a 13-play, 70-yard drive with an Eric Fan 2-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to take the 27-6 lead.

West Valley took the lead early in the contest with one of Evan McDonough’s two field goals in the game. The senior kicker booted a 32-yard field goal to give the Wolfpack the 3-0 advantage and kicked a 29-yarder late in the second quarter to cut a Colony lead to 7-6.

Colony senior Gino Paoletti gave the Knights some breathing room late in the first half, with a 26-yard touchdown run with less than a minute to play in the second quarter.

Paoletti led the Knights with a game high 125 yards. Senior quarterback Collin Murphy ran for 85 yards and a touchdown, and Jaronik chipped in 83 yards and a score.

West Valley fullback Jake Jackson led the Wolfpack with 47 yards in the loss. Jackson also scored West Valley’s lone touchdown in the game when he took a middle screen from McKinistry and rumbled 44 yards for the score.

The Railbelt foes entered the game on opposite ends of the conference — Colony at 3-1 and West Valley at 2-3 in Railbelt play — but Mayo said the Knights knew West Valley was not your average 2-3 team.

“They’re a heck of a lot better than their record shows,” Mayo said. “They’re a very tough, very physical team.”

North Pole, the top-ranked team in the state according to the latest Alaska Sports Broadcasting Network poll and the lone undefeated team in the Railbelt, beat West Valley by just two points. Palmer, which stands at 3-1 in Railbelt play, needed double-overtime to get by the Wolfpack.

West Valley was eliminated from postseason contention with the loss and finishes conference play with a 2-4 record. The Wolfpack meet Eielson in a nonconference match next week.

The West Valley loss also ensured that North Pole, Palmer, Colony and Juneau-Douglas will earn the four Railbelt playoff berths.

Colony (5-2 overall, 4-1 in conference play) moves a step closer to locking up home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Much more will be decided with the conclusion of North Pole’s game against Palmer today.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Colony 27, West Valley 13

Friday, Colony High School

First quarter

West Valley — McDonough 32 field goal, 8:18.

Colony — Murphy 13 run (Murphy kick) 3:53.

Second quarter

West Valley — McDonough 29 field goal, 3:52.

Colony — Paoletti 26 run (Murphy kick) 0:56.

Third quarter

Colony — M. Jaronik 3 run (T. Jaronik kick) 1:15.

Fourth quarter

Colony — Fan 2 run (kick blocked) 5:13.

West Valley — Jackson 44 pass from McKinstry (McDonough kick) 5:13.

Individual statistics

RUSHING — West Valley: Claypoole 10-29, McKinstry 10-25, Jackson 7-47, Wisel 5-(-5); Colony: Paoletti 16-125, M. Jaronik 15-83, Murphy 13-85, Fan 1-2.

PASSING — West Valley: McKinstry 5-10-1—83, Wisel 0-1-0—0; Colony: Murphy 8-12-0—73.

RECEIVING — West Valley: Templeton 2-22, Jackson 1-44, Jefferies 1-11, Wisel 1-6; Colony: T. Jaronik 6-47, McGraw 1-15, M. Jaronik 1-11.