Knights and Warriors clash

Another week, another showdown.

For the second week in a row, a pair of unbeaten squads will square off in a Northern Railbelt Conference matchup. Colony and Wasilla will pair up at Veterans Memorial Field with the conference title on the line.

After this weekend, only one school's conference record will remain untarnished. If Colony prevails, the Knights will earn the conference crown and a top seed in the upcoming state playoffs. If Wasilla is victorious, the Warriors will only need a win over Palmer Sept. 27 to be

the undisputed conference

champions.

Palmer will take a week off from conference competition to take on West, while Houston will continue their march towards a post season berth with a match against Seward.

Colony at Wasilla

Each school is coming off their homecoming and Colony is coming off their biggest win of the season, if not one of their biggest wins of their program. The Knights scored seven times en route to a 35-34 win over cross-town rival Palmer last weekend.

Though the Knights lost team captain and workhorse Auggie Manelick to a season ending leg injury, the week before, the Knights enjoyed their best offensive night of the 2002 season. Senior quarterback Preston Pickett tossed two scoring passes and ran for a touchdown score and the game-deciding two-point conversion in the win.

Fifth-year senior Joe Reza, ran for 100 yards and a touchdown for the Knights in his first action of the season at Colony Field.

The Knights had a string of 11 quarters without being scored upon snapped by the Moose. After posting a pair of shutouts and basically dominating West Valley and North Pole, the Knight defense allowed nearly 350 yards of total offense to the Moose including 295 on the ground.

The Warriors notched a 34-16 win over Houston with mixed emotions. Wasilla was able to get the 18-point non-conference victory on their homecoming, but was plagued with errors in the process. Houston recovered four Wasilla fumbles within the Warrior red-zone to halt several possible scoring

drives.

Abe Salmon continues to lead the Warriors. The senior ran for 181 yards and a touchdown.

Palmer at West

The Moose will travel to Anchorage for the first time this season. West High School will host Palmer on the turf at Anchorage Football Stadium.

It will mark the second time this season that the Moose will take on an Anchorage opponent. Palmer defeated the defending state-champion Dimond Lynx 20-13 to open the season.

The Moose lost for just the first time last week, falling in heart-breaking fashion to Colony 35-34. Palmer lost despite 295 yards on the ground and 146 from fullback Ali Larijani. The senior scored two of Palmer's seven touchdowns, but was stopped just inches shy of the goal line as the Moose opted to go for two in the waning moments of the contest.

Charlie Bentti continued to impress fans and baffle the opposition with 108 yards rushing, 51 yards passing, two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown.

The West Eagles fell to 1-5 overall after the squad was shutout by Bartlett 28-0.

Freshman Ben Faaliga and sophomore Evan Roland combined for 84 yards on 33 carries to lead the Eagles.

West's only victory this season came over the winless Juneau-Douglas Bears.

Palmer and West have two common opponents this year. North Pole and Dimond have both beaten West and fallen to the Moose.

The game will mark the first meeting between West and Palmer since 1978.

Seward at Houston

The Seward Seahawks will travel to Houston to take on the Hawks in their 2002 homecoming game. Houston is 1-1 in the Greatland Conference after posting a win at Sitka two weeks ago.

The Hawks will earn a berth in the small school playoffs with a win over Seward and Anchorage Christian next week.

The Hawks are coming off a 32-16 loss to Valley foe Wasilla. The Warriors were one of two 4A opponents on the Houston schedule.

Despite the difference in the score, the Houston coaching staff saw many positives from their squad.

The Hawk offense totaled nearly 250 yards including 194 yards passing from Peter Clemens.

Clemens is among the state's best at the quarterback position with 48 completions for nearly 800 yards.

Taylor Richey led the Hawks with seven catches for 93 yards.

The Seahawks improved to 2-0 in the Greatland Conference last week with a 28-6 win over ACS.

Ryan Gardner rushed for one touchdown and returned another for a touchdown in the Seward win.

Valley playoff picture

Three of the Valley schools have already clinched and Houston is two wins away from making it a clean sweep for the local schools.

Palmer, Wasilla and Colony have all earned a berth and are now jockeying for seeding position. Currently Colony holds the top spot at 5-0 and the Knights are in position to win the Northern Railbelt Crown with a win over Wasilla.

If the Warriors (4-0) were to defeat Colony this week and Palmer next week, Wasilla will earn first place.

With a Wasilla win this week and a Palmer win next week, the playoff picture would become ever so murky and the tie-breakers would come into play.

Whomever floats to the top as the first seed, will host the fourth seed - which will be the top team from Fairbanks.

Right now Lathrop and West Valley are in line for the fourth seed with two wins.

The second and third seed will come from the Valley. The host school will be determined next week.

With wins over Seward and ACS, Houston will earn a berth in the 3A tourney.