Knights finally score elusive first football win at Juneau-Douglas

PALMER — The Colony Knights football program has a history of pretty good success, particularly in the last 15 years or so.

The Knights have won a handful of conference titles, appeared in two state title games and once made 14 straight trips to the postseason.

But until Saturday, there had been one thing the Knights were not able to accomplish.

Earn a win at Juneau-Douglas.

Saturday, Colony captured its first varsity football win in Juneau, a 48-0 victory over the Crimson Bears.

“It’s huge. The kids are so excited,” Colony head coach Brian McIntosh said by phone Monday afternoon. “The kids are really pumped and excited about it. It’s a monkey off our back.”

Trips to the Capital City typically ended in far different fashion for the Knights. Colony’s last trip to Juneau came with a 65-0 loss to the Bears in 2011. Colony’s win Saturday was also just the second in school history against the Bears. Colony’s only prior win over Juneau, a 26-7 victory, came in 2010 at CHS.

McIntosh was not only excited about the win, but how the Knights played en route to the victory.

“Credit to the kids. Juneau is a tough place to play,” McIntosh said. “We had only two penalties the entire game.”

Senior running back Logan Conway helped Colony improve to 3-0 with its win over Juneau. Conway rushed for 181 yards on 20 carries, and scored four touchdowns.

“Logan had an amazing game,” McIntosh said. “He’s able to run the ball really well with the offensive line we have.”

Conway scored on runs of 12, 10 and 23 yards during a six-minute span of the first quarter, and added a 13-yard score midway through the third. Conway has 458 yards rushing and 10 total touchdowns through the first three weeks of the season. He scored four touchdowns for the second straight week.

Senior receiver Tucker Looney caught a touchdown pass for the third straight week, a 12-yarder from quarterback Steven Bilafer in the first half. Last year Colony graduated a pair of receivers, Daniel Bilafer and Antonio Bush, who spent much of their varsity careers re-writing the Colony school record book. This year, Looney has emerged as a top target.

“He was the hidden guy last year. He has great receptions,” McIntosh said of Looney. “He’s a legit receiver with some of the catches he makes.”

The Colony defense held Juneau to 92 total yards in the game.

Colony (3-0 overall, 1-0 in the Railbelt) continues nonconference play Saturday against Kodiak at 2 p.m. at CHS.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.