Knights bounce back with win over Bartlett

PALMER — Colony had a rough start to the 2021 prep football season, but the Knights bounced back in a big way.

Colony scored 33 unanswered points and earned a 40-14 Cook Inlet Conference win over Bartlett Aug. 20 at Colony High School.

“We just had to clean it up,” Colony head coach Robbie Nash said after the win. “We had to settle down a little on offense.”

Tanner Thornhill rushed for a career high 216 yards and three touchdowns, Jayce Underwood grabbed a career best nine catches for 73 yards and a score, and quarterback Harvey Pullen threw for 116 yards and two scores in his debut at Colony High’s Pride Field.

Colony opened the second half with a four-play, 66-yard scoring drive capped by Pullen’s 19-yard scoring strike to Underwood.

“We finally got our tempo going,” Nash said. “That’s what we wanted to do, get a good tempo, dictate the speed.”

Pullen was 3 of 3 for 41 yards and a score on the drive. He also had a 27-yard touchdown pass to Spencer Lagg later in the third quarter.

Thornhill rushed for touchdowns of 10, 73 and 1 yards in the win.

“Tanner ran incredibly tonight,” Nash said.

Bartlett used big running plays, from big running backs, during the first half to stay in the game, notching scoring runs of 34 and 58 yards.

“The first half, those two big plays, you can’t tackle those big guys up top. Some of those big guys run like bulldozers. They’ve got some big, strong running backs,” Nash said.

Nash said the Knights were better against the run in the second half. Bartlett rushed for 73 yards during the final two quarters, with the biggest gain of 14 yards.

“They cleaned that up, started more gang tackling,” Nash said.

Colony’s night on defense also included an Underwood interception, and Jack Nash returned a fumble recovery 80 yards for a touchdown.

The Knights (1-1) continue conference play Saturday at 5 p.m. at South Anchorage.

Wasilla 34, Kodiak 6Wasilla improved to 2-0 with a 34-6 win over Kodiak Aug. 20 in Kodiak.

Quarterback Jacob Mahoney accounted for four touchdowns in the win. He threw for 91 yards and two scores, and added 48 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Mahoney connected with Dylan Jeffus on a 40-yard touchdown strike in the first, and Max Larson on an 18-yard scring pass in the third.

Mahoney added touchdown runs of 1 and 26 yards. Izaiah Lattin returned an interception 70 yards for a touchdown.

Wasilla hosts West Valley Friday at 7 p.m.

Palmer 59, West Valley 20Palmer improved to 1-1 with a 59-20 win over West Valley Aug. 21 in Fairbanks.

Quarterback Ben Simmerman accounted for four touchdowns, with three passing touchdowns and a score on the ground. Lucas Frank scored three times in the win. Elijah Barnes caught a pair of touchdown passes. Isaiah Perkins rushed for two scores, and Kayson Asay also scored on the ground.

The Moose had six touchdowns of 10 or more yards.

Palmer plays Division I Bartlett Saturday at 6 p.m. at Bartlett.

Redington 40, Valdez 20The Redington Huskies scored a 40-20 in over Valdez Aug. 21 in Valdez.

Quarterback Wayde Bowman threw for 209 yards and scored twice. Trevor Lawrence led the Huskies with 111 yards rushing.

Redington hosts Barrow Friday at 7 p.m.

Eagle River 50, Houston 0The Houston Hawks suffered a 50-0 loss to Eagle River Aug. 20 in Houston.

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