Knights coach sees growth in loss to Mustangs

CHUGIAK — Life hasn’t been easy for the Colony Knights this season. The Knights were shut out in three of their first four games and dropped to 0-5 with a 35-7 loss to the Chugiak Mustangs on Saturday.

But even during the loss at Tom Huffer Sr. Stadium at Chugiak High, Colony head coach Brian McIntosh watched his players continue to grow.

“They finally started to believe in their potential and ability,” McIntosh said. “We did some stuff really, really well today, especially in that second half.”

Colony kept Chugiak out of the end zone for the bulk of the second half and put points on the board for the first time since a Week 2 loss to Lathrop.

“To see us start to have success on defense, starting to stop people, and when the offense scored, it was a huge weight off our back,” McIntosh said.

Sophomore Antionio Bush reached up to grab a 16-yard Rob Loretnz pass in the end zone to put the Knights on the scoreboard midway through the third quarter. The Knights also had success in the second half running the ball. Junior Wyatt Peltier grabbed the bulk of his 59 yards during the final two quarters.

“We were running the ball hard,” McIntosh said.

Chugiak took a 21-0 lead into the half, and capitalized off a pair of Colony turnovers to score both of its second-half touchdowns during the first two minutes of the third quarter.

Senior Justin Schneider ran for a game-high 134 yards and two touchdowns during the win. Schneider scored from 1-yard out with 0.7 seconds remaining in the first half. He added a 20-yard touchdown run 22 seconds into the third quarter.

Chugiak captain Wayde Snell plunged in from 1-yard out two minutes into the second half to give the Mustangs the 35-0 lead.

Dylan Timberlake and Jacob Wenzel also scored for Chugiak (3-2).

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him at twitter.com/matsu_sports.

Chugiak 35, Colony 7

Saturday, Tom Huffer Sr Stadium

First quarter:

Chugiak — Timberlake 1 run (Lowe kick), 8:40

Chugiak — Wenzl 19 run (Lowe kick), 1:19

Second quarter

Chugiak — Schneider 1 run (Lowe kick), :00.7

Third quarter

Chugiak — Schneider 20 run (Lowe kick), 11:38

Chugiak — Snell 1 run (Lowe kick), 10:02

Colony — Bush 16 pass from Lorentz (Meaney kick), 6:41

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Chugiak: Schneider 17-134, Wenzl 7-70, Timberlake 10-41, Fitzhugh 6-29, J. Benzel 3-24, Nicholson 8-21, Snell 4-11, Harris 2-5, Prince 1-4, Healy 1-3. Colony: Peltier 14-59, Niver 1-21, Summers 2-4, Lorentz 6-(-17).

PASSING — Chugiak: Wenzl 2-3-0—23. Colony: Lorentz 7-14-2—44.

RECEIVING — Chugiak: Plumb 1-10, Spearman 1-3. Colony: Root 3-15, Bush 2-18, Bilafer 1-12, Peltier 1-(-1).