Knights hold on, score win over Bartlett

As senior quarterback Jack Nash cut through a hole opened by the interior of his offensive line for a 5-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter to give Colony a two-score lead. It looked like some insurance for the Knights.

But as it turned out, it was a score the Knights really needed.

“We sure did,” Colony head coach Robbie Nash said after a 35-28 win over Bartlett.

The Golden Bears outscored Colony 28-14 during the final two quarters, but the Knights held on to grab the win Friday night at Colony High School and improve to 1-1 overall in 2023.

Colony led 21-0 at the half, but Bartlett used big plays to jump back into the game.

“You go into halftime up 21-0 and you come out in the second half overconfident,” Nash said. “You can never come out overconfident, especially against a team like Bartlett.”

Special teams sparked the Golden Bears rally. Bartlett recovered a pair of onside kicks in the second half, and Andre Jameson returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown with 2 minutes, 31 seconds left in the game.

Those were just a few of the big plays for Bartlett in the second half. Jameson also took a pitch and hit the sideline for a 63-yard touchdown run. Lokahi Kanohokula used a 75-yard run to set up Zayden Manuel-Kekauoha’s 1-yard score.

“They got those big plays. We can’t afford that,” Nash said.

But the Knights were able to do enough in the second half to prevail.

Jack Nash and Keoni Pili had second-half touchdown runs. The Knights defense had a big stop as Bartlett faced 4th-and-2 at the Colony 25-yard line midway through the fourth. Teagan Olson recovered yet another Bartlett onside kick attempt with 2:31 left. The Knights offense followed with a pair of first downs, and ran out the clock.

“Colony’s never been one to give up,” Robbie Nash said.

The Knights rushed for 276 yards in the win. Jack Nash led Colony with 154 yards on 11 carries. Sophomore Julian Ates added 106 and two scores on the ground.

“We ran the ball well,” Robbie Nash said.

Ridge Spencer led Colony receivers with four catches for 79 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown grab at the end of the first half.

Both teams were plagued by penalties. Bartlett had two scores called back, and Colony had one.

“Not the prettiest at all. We had a lot of mistakes,” Nash said. “We saw a lot of good. We saw some bad. But the good outweighed the bad today.”

Contact Frontiersman managing editor Jeremiah Bartz at editor@frontiersman.com.