Knights cruise to first win of 2008

FAIRBANKS — For the first time this season, the Lathrop Malemutes had a dry field.

It didn’t help.

The Colony Knights cruised to their first Railbelt Conference victory, crushing the Malemutes 56-6 Friday night at Lathrop High School.

Lathrop could not withstand Colony’s rushing attack, which used its big running backs to churn up 278 yards on the ground.

That total could have been more, but the Knights were hardly ever far from the end zone.

In the first half, Colony’s worst field position was on its own 44 yard line. Aided by six Lathrop turnovers, the Knights offense began drives in Malemutes territory six times.

Colony running back Matt Jaronik, who ran for two touchdowns on 77 yards and caught a touchdown pass, said the field position was a tremendous help for the Knights’ stamina.

“The weather was hotter and the sun was out,” Jaronik said. “It keeps us from getting zapped.”

Colony running back Chris Kreig led the onslaught with 81 yards and two touchdowns, consistently busting through the middle and overpowering Lathrop’s linebackers to average 6.2 yards a carry.

“The kid’s an animal,” Colony head coach Jamie Mayo said. “… He’s probably the most physical player on the team. It’s not fun to try to tackle him.”

Mayo said Friday’s game put his team back on track after opening the season with losses to North Pole on Aug. 6 and Soldotna on Aug. 15.

“We lost two tough games in a row and we came out and showed that we were a good team,” Mayo said.

And now, it’s Lathrop’s turn to try to rebound from two hard losses.

The Malemutes have been outscored 91-6 in their last two games, but head coach Patrick Romans said he tried to keep spirits high on the sidelines when his team faced an insurmountable deficit.

“I love those kids,” Romans said with a sigh, speaking slowly. “When you get pushed around like that, it’s hard to keep them up, but we do.”

Lathrop hasn’t won against a large-schools team since defeating West Valley on Aug. 31 last year, but Romans had little to say about what his players could have done better.

“I’m not disappointed in them,” Romans said of his players. “They do a great job out there.”

Malemutes running back AJ Allen — who led the team with 63 yards rushing — certainly got that message, responding to questions about the loss with a shy grin.

“That was pretty ugly,” he said. “But we didn’t get shut out. That’s a start. We can go from there.”

Allen can be happy to avoid a shutout thanks to the efforts of running back Denzel Crump, who had a 13-yard reception and a 45-yard touchdown run on Lathrop’s final drive to take the goose egg off the scoreboard.

“We love the game, and that’s what we’r e all out here for,” Crump said.

Contact staff writer Joshua Armstrong at 459-7583.

KNIGHTS 56, MALEMUTES 6

First Quarter

COL—Murphy run 3 (T. Jaronik kick), 4:10.

COL— Murphy run 2 (T. Jaronik kick), 0:32.

Second Quarter

COL—T. Jaronick pass 8 from Murphy (T. Jaronik kick blocked), 8:56.

COL—Kreig run 11 (T. Jaronik kick), 6:15.

COL—M. Jaronik run 25 (Packa run), 5:50.

COL—M. Jaronik pass 18 from Murphy (T. Jaronik kick), 3:23.

COL—Kreig run 2 (T. Jaronik kick), 0:12.

Third Quarter

COL — M. Jaronik run 17 (T. Jaronik kick) 6:41.

Fourth Quarter

LATH—Crump run 45 (Crump pass failed), 3:22.

RUSHING—Colony:Kreig 13-81, M. Jaronik 11-77, Murphy 8-70, McGraw 5-35, No. 32 3-8, Slater 1-6, Packa 2-4, Jones 5-(-3). Lathrop: Allen 10-63, Crump 5-59, Warner 5-8, Nunneman 1-2, Hoeffel 3-(-3).

PASSING— Colony: Murphy 4-6-0-49. Lathrop: Hoeffel 1-8-3-4, Nunneman 1-1-0-15. Crump 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING—Colony: T. Jaronik 3-31, M. Jaronik 1-18. Lathrop: Crump 1-15, Richard 1-4.