Knights end difficult season with big win over North Pole

By JEREMIAH BARTZ

Frontiersman

PALMER — It’s been a rough season for the Colony Knights. But Friday, the Knights finally had a chance to celebrate victory.

Colony capped its 2011 season with a wild 42-39 win over Railbelt Conference rival North Pole at Colony High School.

“It was really, really special for us,” Colony head coach Brian McIntosh said. “It was like a state championship for us.”

McIntosh said the Knights treated Friday’s game like they were playing for a title, and enjoyed, undoubtedly, their best performance of a difficult season.

Colony entered the game with only 39 points scored, 32 in conference play, but exploded for 42 in its season finale.

“They wanted to win so bad,” McIntosh said. “It was a total team effort.”

Junior Wyatt Peltier rushed for a career-high 309 yards in the win. Peltier actually had more yards Friday than he did throughout his entire varsity career. He came into the game with a team-high 289 yards rushing.

Colony finished with 399 yards rushing in the game.

McIntosh said he had a feeling Peltier was primed for a big night.

“I knew this week was going to be a big week,” McIntosh said. “He got hurt last year, the second into the season. But he kept developing and developing. It clicked this week and he went out there and hit beast mode.”

Peltier carried the ball 36 times in the game, 20 times in the second half. The junior broke free for a 45-yard score on his third carry of the game.

Senior fullback Ty Farber also contributed to that running game. The senior — who spent a portion of the year at center also — helped pave the way for Peltier, and added two rushing touchdowns himself.

Peltier gave the Knights the early touchdown lead with his 45-yard score and Farber pushed Colony’s lead to 21-0 with a 2-yard plunge into the end zone. The score marked Farber’s first career varsity touchdown.

Sandwiched by the two running scores was a Rob Lorentz touchdown pass. The junior quarterback connected with sophomore Antonio Bush on a 33-yard score in the first quarter. Junior Devin Campbell with 52 yards receiving.

North Pole blasted back into the ball game with Moo Rogers’ four rushing touchdowns. The junior quarterback put the Patriots on the scoreboard with a 3-yard score in the second quarter, and added three more scores in the second half.

Rogers’ third touchdown of the game gave North Pole a 24-21 lead, but Farber gave the Knights the advantage again with another touchdown run in the third quarter.

“It was back-and-forth,” McIntosh said. “North Pole battled back. It was a great game.”

Ken McCoy also had a key 35-yard interception return for a touchdown for the Knights.

Rogers led the Patriots with 180 yards passing and 73 yards rushing. Anthony Gibson led the Patriots with 157 yards receiving.

The game also marked the second annual “Battle of the Boots,” a tradition created last year to recognize the rivalry between the Knights and Patriots, and to honor the memory of the late Buck Nystrom, a former North Pole head coach and the winningest head coach in Alaska high school football history.

The series is complete with a traveling trophy, a bronzed pair of cleats that Nystrom wore throughout his playing career at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

Colony 42, North Pole 39

Friday, Colony High School

First quarter:

Colony — Peltier 45 run (Meaney kick).

Colony — Bush 33 pass from Lorentz (Meaney kick).

Colony — Farber 2 run (Meaney kick).

Second quarter:

North Pole — Rogers 3 run (Gibson run).

Third quarter:

North Pole — Johnson 2 run (Rogers pass to No. 47).

North Pole — Rogers 1 run (Rogers pass to No. 47).

Colony — Farber 1 run (run failed).

North Pole — Rogers 1 run (Rogers pass to Johnson).

Fourth quarter:

Colony — Peltier 53 run (kick failed).

Colony — McCoy 35 interception return (Bilafer kick).

North Pole — Rogers 17 run (Gibson kick).

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS:

RUSHING — North Pole: Rogers 16-73, No. 23 5-9, Johnson 2-4; Colony: Peltier 36-309, Lorentz 14-43, Farber 3-12, Root 2-1, Summers 1-3.

PASSING — North Pole: 11-27-1—180; Colony: Lorentz 9-19-0—126.

RECEIVING — North Pole: Gibson 8-157, No. 2 2-15, No. 6 1-5, Johnson 1-3; Colony: Campbell 5-52, Bush 2-48, Bilafer 1-20, Summers 1-6.

Homer 42, Houston 20

HOUSTON — The Homer Mariners scored a 42-20 win over the Houston Hawks at Houston High School on Friday.

Results of the game were unavailable prior to press time.

Contact sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.