Knights edge Moose in thriller

PALMER -- Friday night's contest between Valley rivals Palmer and Colony had all the makings of a classic.

Palmer and Colony did not disapoint.

In a contest that went back and forth throughout, the Colony Knights prevailed posting a 35-34 victory on their home turf.

The victory placed Colony alone atop the Northern Railbelt standings at 5-0. The Knights are now guaranteed to host a first-round playoff game.

Inches literally stood between a Knight win and a Moose win.

With Colony leading 35-28 late in the fourth quarter, Palmer put together a 12-play, 73-yard drive to reach the end zone for the fifth time of the night.

On fourth-and-goal at the seven yard line with a little more than two minutes remaining in regulation, Moose signal caller Charlie Bentti rolled to his left, avoided the Knight pressure and found Dustin Eley standing in the front corner of the end zone. Eley hauled in his fourth touchdown reception of the season to bring the Moose within one.

Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen and his staff were then forced to make the decision of all decisions. Without hesitation, Christiansen sent his offense back in the contest and opted to go for the two-point conversion and the lead, rather than attempting to kick the extra point and try to force the game into overtime.

The Moose gave the ball to fullback Ali Larijani to run up the gut of the Colony defense. Larijani had spent the evening running up through the center of the line gaining 149 yards on the ground, including 66 on the final Palmer drive.

This time Larijani would come up just short. The senior was brought down by a barrage of Knight defenders just shy of the goal line. Larijani twisted and turned his way through black jerseys but failed to get the nose of the ball into the end zone before his knees touched the ground.

According to Christiansen windy conditions factored into his decision to go for the two-point conversion.

On the ensuing kickoff the Moose attempted the onside kick. Eley bounced the ball in the air and Knight running back Joe Reza grabbed the kick. Rather than going down, Reza took the ball all the way around to the right side, returning it to the Palmer 23-yard line.

The return combined with Palmer's lack of timeouts sealed the contest for Colony.

"Everybody was telling me just to down it, but I only saw a couple of guys on the right side," Reza said. "[Jake] DeBuck made a great block. Rhett Magner made one too."

The Knights jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on a pair of one-yard touchdown runs from Reza and Nolan Smith. Reza set up his score with a 69-yard jaunt earlier in the drive.

Bentti scored on a three-yard run early in the second quarter to cut the score to 13-7. Bentti hit Dustin Mason for an eight-yard touchdown pass later in the quarter. Bentti accounted for three touchdowns on the evening, throwing for two and running for one.

The two second quarter Palmer touchdowns sandwiched a Colony score.

Soon after Palmer's first score of the quarter, the Moose fumbled a punt and Colony's Justin Coffman recovered. Five plays later Knight quarterback Preston Pickett found Coffman in the back of the end zone for the 16-yard touchdown pass.

The score was one of two touchdown receptions for the first-year wide receiver. The senior had been a standout on the Colony basketball and baseball squads before giving football a try.

Coffman's first score was the difference in the half, as the Knights went into the intermission with a 20-13 advantage.

The Moose came out in the third quarter just as the Knights came out in the first quarter, blowing the opposing line off the line of scrimmage and marching down the field.

Palmer reached the end zone twice in the first six minutes of the quarter on a pair of Larijani touchdowns to take their first lead of the game. Larijani scored on runs of 10 and 12 yards, each in similar fashion -- right up the middle.

Following Larijani's second score, Colony put together their longest drive of the night. The Knights steadily charged down the field, 80 yards on 18 plays.

Facing third-and-six on the eight yard line, Pickett dropped back to pass. The Palmer defense quickly collapsed the pocket. Just as Moose

defensive end Aaron Lopez was able to get an arm on Pickett, the Knight quarterback fired a pass and again found Coffman standing in the back of the end zone.

The Knights opted for the two point conversion and Pickett opted to keep the ball. The senior quarterback tucked the ball away and went behind the left side of the Colony line to gain the pivotal two points, which proved to be the deciding factor in the game.

Game notes … Reza gained 100 yards on nine carries in his first home game of his senior season … Palmer had a pair of rushers eclipse the 100-yard mark. In addition to Larijani's game-high 149 yards, Bentti rushed for 108 yards … Four different receivers caught passes for the Knights … Palmer turned the ball over three times in the contest … Coffman and Mike Craig recovered fumbles and Magner intercepted a pass for the Knight defense … Bentti's touchdown in the second quarter marked the first time in 11 quarters that an opponent scored on the Colony defense … The teams combined for 537 yards on the ground. Palmer rushed for 295, while Colony rushed for 237 yards.