Knights edge Moose in postseason battle

PALMER -- For the last month of the prep football season the miraculous Palmer Moose have used their fourth quarter heroics to seize the spotlight and win the Northern Railbelt title.

On Friday, the Moose fell inches short and the crosstown Colony Knights pulled off a upset of their own.

On a rainy Palmer evening on a mud-soaked Machetanz Field, the fourth-seeded Knights upset the top seeded Moose 12-7.

Colony, the lone team in the 4A playoffs with a losing record, eliminates the Railbelt champs and moves on to a date in the state semifinals with East.

Colony senior fullback David Craig scored on a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs in the second half and the Knight defense held the usually ferocious Moose running attack to just 171 yards in the victory.

"We weremuch more prepared to stop that run," Colony junior Justin Schwartzbauer said. "We keyed on that all week in practice."

Colony, aided by a costly Palmer turnover and a controversial Palmer penalty, chewed up most of the third quarter with an 18-play, 89-yard scoring drive. Craig took his first of two touchdown plunges with 43 seconds left in the third quarter to give Colony the 6-0 lead.

The Knight drive started after Colony defensive back Mike Benson recovered a Zack Fox fumble. Benson recovered the ball after Fox was dealt a punishing blow on a 16-yard gain. Knight linebacker Mike Richards smacked the Palmer fullback and the ball was punched to the turf. Four plays into the Colony drive, a controversial call extended the series for the Knights. Rather than facing fourth down at the 14-yard-line, a Palmer rouging the punter penalty gave Colony a fresh set of downs and the ball was moved up to the 35-yard-line.

On the play, Colony punter Tim Egger fumbled a low snap and was hit by Palmer's Mike Weber as the Moose defense stormed to the ball. Though Weber hit Egger while the Colony punter did not cleanly have possession of the ball, yellow flags littered the field and the Moose were whistled with a 15-yard penalty. Regardless of the call, Colony took advantage and promptly marched down the field.

Three plays later, Colony quarterback Rhett Magner notched a potentially drive-saving play. Facing third and short, Colony lost the ball on the center-quarterback exchange and Magner recovered, and dove three yards for the first down.

Following Craig's first score, the Knight defense stopped a Palmer drive by stuffing Fox on a short gain on fourth down at the 30-yard-line. On the following play, Magner connected with wide receiver Justin Schwartzbauer on a 68-yard pass play. Magner hit Schwartzbauer with a perfect spiral just as the Colony wideout was able to split Palmer's double coverage.

"We have a good connection," Schwartzbauer said. "We are good friends, always on the same page."

Weber was able to push Schwartzbauer out at the 2-yard-line, but the play set up Craig's second touchdown.

Down by two scores midway through the fourth quarter, the Moose went from being on the verge of elimination to the verge of pulling off another comeback. J.C. Forrester returned the ensuing kickoff to the 49-yard-line, and Moose quarterback Charlie Bentti connected with Sam Zimmer on a 45-yard pass on the first play of the drive. The Zimmer catch set up a 4-yard Bentti touchdown and the Moose cut the score to 12-7.

With 4:42 left in regulation, Palmer continued toward a possible comeback as Moose defensive lineman Junior Aumavae recovered an errant Colony pitch. Four plays later, Palmer was faced with another pivotal fourth-down play. Facing fourth down and four yards to go, Weber charged around the right side of the Moose offensive line and appeared to be close, if not across the first-down point.

After Weber stood up from the pile of Palmer and Colony players, the ball was respotted a few inches back and the chains were brought out for the measurement. The difference between a Colony win and a possible Palmer comeback was about four links of the chain.

Both teams accomplished very little on offense in the first half, with the teams combining for more punts than first downs in the first two quarters. In the second half the Knights came out charging up the middle. Normally a threat with dangerous speed to the outside, Colony opted for a more conservative path up the middle.

Craig ran for 68 of his team-high 70 yards in the second half. According to Craig, the right mindset and longer cleats helped him give Colony a stable running attack in the second half. Nearly all of Craig's yards came through the gut of the line and behind Colony center Dominick Bellotte.

"We really couldn't take it to the outside, in the second half we got it to David Craig and ran it right up the middle," Magner said. "They weren't respecting our inside game."

Palmer found that making the throw in the wet weather can be as hard as making the pitch. The Knight defense held Bentti, the state's top rushing quarterback, to just 17 yards. Bentti had gained 89 in Palmer's regular season win over the Knights.

"Our linebackers did a great job against the option," Schwartzbauer said.

Allen Franklin, Palmer's leading rusher during the 2003 season, was noticeably absent from the Moose backfield.

The Moose ended the 2003 campaign with a 6-3 record an a Railbelt Conference crown. Palmer's season was highlighted by a series of memorable comebacks. The Moose used the come-from-behind method to defeat West Valley, Lathrop, Colony and North Pole.

Colony is now one step closer to the state championship game. The winner of the Colony and East battle will move into the title game.

Colony is the last squad from the Valley to advance to the state final game. The Knights were the 4A runners-up in 2000.

The last team from the Valley to win the state football crown was Palmer, in 1995.

East advanced to the second round of postseason play with a 56-32 win over Chugiak.

Colony and East are no strangers having played the first week of the season at Anchorage Football Stadium.

East defeated Colony in the season opener.