Knights host Warriors; Stars bring streak to Palmer in Week 5

PALMER — As the Colony Knights prepare for the Wasilla Warriors, Knights head coach Rhett Magner said aren’t looking at a Wasilla program that collected only a pair of wins in the previous two seasons combined.

“They’re going to be ready to go,” Magner said of the game, slated for Friday at 7 p.m. at Colony High. “They’re going to be coached up, and they’re going to come out and try to stop us.”

Colony enters the game 4-0, the top-ranked Division I team according to the latest Alaska Sports Broadcasting Network poll. Wasilla is 2-2, and 1-0 in Railbelt play after a 17-13 win over West Valley last week.

“They’re dramatically improved. We recognized that,” Magner said. “They’re not a team to take lightly.”

Magner said there’s also plenty to play for.

“It’s a crosstown rival, our first conference game. It’s homecoming,” Magner said. “We have to execute.”

Colony has powered through the first half of the schedule, outscoring opponents by a combined margin of 156-50 during wins over Service, Bartlett, Palmer and West Anchorage. Colony improved to 4-0 with a 46-15 win over West Aug. 31. Colony put together nearly 400 yards on offense and forced six turnovers on defense.

As the Warriors prepare for Colony, Wasilla head coach Will Stout said the Warriors are focusing on eliminating penalties.

“Penalties are hurting us. We’re working hard to clean those up,” Stout said earlier this week.

Stout said during the 17-13 win over West Valley, Wasilla gave up 30 penalty yards on one of West Valley’s two scoring drives. The Warriors also had a touchdown called back due to a penalty.

“We’re lucky penalties didn’t cost us the game,” Stout said.

But there were a lot of positives to take away from the win. Wasilla jumped out to an early lead. Quarterback Aeron Milliron broke away for a 66-yard touchdown run, and finished with 185 yards in the game. Matthew Trask added a score.

The Wasilla defense also stepped up, and helped Wasilla preserve the victory.

“That was huge,” Stout said. “The defensive staff has been working hard, drilling the boys.”

Soldotna at Palmer

After winning for the first time in 2017, the Palmer Moose host a team that has not lost since 2012. The Soldotna Stars ride their 53-game winning streak into Machetanz Field to take on the Moose Friday at 7 p.m.

Palmer improved to 1-3 overall and 1-0 in the Northern Lights Conference with a 57-0 win over Kodiak last week. The Moose had three players — seniors Larry Cutsforth, Jared Oviok and Jeff Glynn — rush for more than 150 yards in the win, and Palmer finished with 558 yards rushing. Palmer quarterback Luke Guggenmos threw for scores of 31 and 72 yards.

The Stars now have the second longest current winning streak in the nation after extending its state record wining streak to 53 wins with a 20-7 victory over Crater High School, a program from Central Point, Oregon, at Del Norte High in Crescent City, California. Soldotna was slated to play in Central Point, but the game was moved to California due to poor air quality and the smoke from the wildfires burning across Oregon.

Soldotna’s last loss came against Palmer during the opening week of the 2017 season.

Friday’s contest is also a rematch of the 2016 medium-schools state title game. Soldotna won its fifth straight state crown with a victory over the Moose.

Houston at Eielson

The Houston Hawks travel north for a rematch of the 2016 small-schools state title game. Defending state champion Eielson hosts the Hawks Saturday at 1 p.m.

Eielson topped Houston 40-18 in the title game last season, but the bulk of Eielson’s work on offense was done in the second quarter. Hawks defensive coordinator Jared Barrett said, looking at tape, the Houston coaches saw improvement in the second half against Eielson. That’s been a focus as they prepare for the rematch, he said.

Houston improved to 3-1 last week with a 53-6 drubbing of Monroe Catholic. The Hawks scored five defensive touchdowns in the win. Eielson is also 3-1, and has won three straight since dropping its season-opener to Division I West Valley.

Redington at Nikiski

After notching a number of firsts already this season, Redington will be in search of its first conference road win when the Huskies hit the field Saturday at 2 p.m. in Nikiski. The Huskies are 3-1 after scoring their first conference win, a victory over Seward last week.

Nikiski is 2-2.

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