Knights look to rebound

PALMER — Entering the third week of the prep football season, the Colony Knights sit winless at 0-2. But as the Knights prepare to face their third opponent, North Pole, tonight at 7 p.m. at North Pole High School, Colony is eager to prove to the remainder of the state its 0-2 mark is deceiving.

“We went out there and went after two of the better opponents in the state,” Colony head coach Brian McIntosh said Wednesday afternoon.

Both losses during the first two weeks came in nonconference games against Anchorage programs. The Knights suffered an 18-12 overtime loss to Dimond in Week 1 and West Anchorage edged Colony 7-6 last week.

After the loss to West, McIntosh said he thought his team could realistically be 1-1 or even 2-0. Despite the current record, the first-year head coach is happy with some of the things he’s seeing.

“There are definitely positives to be drawn from these games,” McIntosh said.

The Colony offense outgained the Lynx the first week and the Knights ran 19 more offensive plays than West last Friday. On defense, the Knights have allowed fewer points than any other Railbelt team during the first two games. May of those points allowed have come on the big play.

West’s only score came thanks to an 84-yard Conor Feckley touchdown pass. That play accounted for nearly 40 percent of the Eagles’ total offense.

Dimond used two scores of 45 yards or more to beat Colony two weeks ago.

Overall, McIntosh said he’s happy with the play of his defense and the intensity his players have shown this year.

“I’m definitely pleased with the kids’ effort,” McIntosh said. “They definitely understand what their mistakes have been, and they are getting better every day.”

McIntosh’s squad will face a North Pole team that improved to 1-1 last week with a 21-18 win over Wasilla. McIntosh said the Colony coaching staff has been busy reviewing the tape of that game, but it may not be a true depiction of the Patriots.

“We’ve been watching it pretty closely,” McIntosh said. “It’s tough to tell, they were playing in the same rainy conditions as us.”

North Pole replaced virtually everyone from its 2009 state semifinal team. The Patriots lost 11 starters on offense and nine on defense.

Leading North Pole’s 2010 team is Frankie Anderson, who rushed for 108 yards and a touchdown during the win over the Warriors. Matthew Rogers, a transfer from Eielson, rushed for 94 yards on 11 carries last week. Quarterback Danny Grzesiuk had 73 yards rushing during a Week 1 32-27 loss to defending state champion Bartlett.

“They’re always going to be tough,” McIntosh said.

As Colony searches for its first win, the Knights continue to battle injuries. The Knights lost a pair of senior starters, Payton McCann and Greg Michaelson, during the loss to Dimond in Week 1.

The kicker, both injuries came during the final three plays of the game in overtime. Both were expected to be weapons on offense and staples in the defensive backfield. Michaelson could return as early as next week, but is expected to play only defense when he hits the field. The Knights hope to have McCann back in four to five weeks.

“That definitely hurt us,” McIntosh said.

The Knights return home to host Juneau-Douglas Aug. 27.

Juneau at Palmer

The Palmer Moose will host defending Railbelt Conference champion Juneau-Dougals tonight at 7 p.m. at Machetanz Field.

The match features two teams ranked in the top-five of the latest Alaska Sports Broadcasters Network Prep Football Poll. Juneau (2-0) is second, while Palmer (1-1) is ranked fourth.

Palmer got into the win column with a 46-0 victory over Lathrop in Fairbanks last weekend. The Crimson Bears improved to 2-0 with a 37-0 win over West Valley in Fairbanks.

The Bears, who saw their streak of six straight seasons in the semifinals snapped with a first-round loss to Chugiak last year, enters the matchup as the highest scoring team in all of Alaska. Juneau is averaging 46 points per game, thanks in part to a Week 1 55-14 whooping of fifth-ranked South Anchorage.

Sophomore quarterback Phillip Fenumiai accounted for six scores in the win, throwing four touchdown passes and running for a pair of scores. All-purpose threat Eric Fagerstrom scored in three different ways during a 37-15 win over West Valley last week. Fagerstrom caught a touchdown pass, ran for a touchdown and returned a kick 75 yards for a score.

Palmer has an all-purpose guy of its own, Jim McCall. The senior picked off three Lathrop passes and scored on both sides of the ball last week during his squad’s 46-0 win over the Malemutes.

McCall caught a 41-yard Jackson Buresh touchdown pass less than two minutes into regulation and returned a pick 68 yards for a touchdown.

Another long McCall interception return set up one of senior David Sorenson’s two first-half touchdown runs.

Senior David Clement also scored twice, with a touchdown on both offense and defense. Clement returned a pick for a score and ran for a touchdown.

Kenai at Houston

The undefeated Houston Hawks will host defending small schools state champion Kenai Central Saturday at 3 p.m. at Houston High School.

Houston, led by its steady running attack, blanked Ketchikan 37-0 in Houston last week. Junior Tyler Barron scored Houston’s first three touchdowns. Senior Brandon Dukes topped the 100-yard mark for the third straight year against Ketchikan and added a touchdown. Quarterback Beau Frank also scored.

With the win over Ketchikan and a 48-point effort against Valdez two weeks ago, the Hawks lead the small-schools class in scoring.

Kenai, which blanked Skyview 36-0 in Week 1, dropped to 1-1 with a 20-13 loss to Service last week. The large-schools Cougars needed 20 unanswered points to get past the Kards.

Sophomore quarterback AJ Hull generally sparks the Kards offense. Hull has 116 yards passing and 141 yards rushing in two games. Kai Risung leads the Kards with 244 yards on the ground.

Kodiak at Wasilla

The Wasilla Warriors will face a Northern Lights Conference team for the second time in three weeks when they face Kodiak Saturday at 7 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Field.

Wasilla (0-2) is still in search of its first win of the season after consecutive losses to Soldotna and North Pole.

Soldotna, Kodiak’s rival in the NLC, edged Wasilla 15-7 in Soldotna during the first week of the season. Last week, Soldotna shutout Kodiak 28-0 in Kodiak.

The Bears were held to just 30 total yards in the loss, 14 rushing and 16 passing. Soldotna recorded more than 270 yards of total offense, but turned the ball over five times.

The Stars fumbled eight times, losing four, and were also intercepted.

Riley McFarlin leads the Bears with 119 yards rushing and two touchdowns in two games.

The Warriors rallied, but fell short during the loss to North Pole last week.

Deonn Richardson actually gave Wasilla an early lead with a 6-yard touchdown run, but North Pole followed with three touchdowns to take the 21-6 lead.

Tyler Polis scored on a 22-yard run for Wasilla and David Green caught a 23-yard AJ Marshall touchdown pass to bring the Warriors within a field goal at 21-18

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