Knights open Railbelt football schedule

PALMER — Colony’s victory over the Palmer Moose last week was big on a variety of levels for the Knights.

First, there’s the obvious. Colony scored some bragging rights. But more than that, the victory marked the first of the 2015 season and the first of a career for first-year head coach Rhett Manger.

Even beyond that, the victory came a week prior to Colony (1-2) opening its Railbelt Conference schedule, a match against Lathrop slated for tonight at 7 p.m. at Colony High School.

“We really needed this win,” Magner said after the Knights beat the Moose. “It’s really big. It’s a monkey off our back.”

The Knights, who started the season with nonconference losses to East Anchorage and Soldotna, kicked that monkey free. But for Colony, the key word may be momentum.

“Great momentum,” Magner said. “It’s a big confidence booster.”

Magner said there’s also that knowledge that his Knights beat a Palmer team that scored a 35-19 win over Lathrop earlier this season. Lathrop, idle in Week 1, is now 1-1, following the Malemutes 28-14 win over Wasilla in Fairbanks last week. Regardless, Magner said the Knights are expecting a tough test from Lathrop, the defending Railbelt Conference champions.

“Lathrop’s extremely athletic,” Magner said. “They throw the ball around. They’re an extremely explosive team, and we’ve got to scheme’em to get ready for them.”

Lathrop finished with 134 yards rushing and 96 yards passing during the win over the Warriors. Scott McKinstry led Lathrop with 73 yards and three touchdowns. RJ Henry sparked Lathrop early, returning the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. Senior quarterback Steven Bilafer led the Knights with 163 yards and three touchdowns against the Moose. Like Lathrop against Wasilla, Colony also struck early against the Moose. Bilafer broke free for a 60-yard score on Colony’s first offensive play of the game. Bilafer leads the Knights with 266 yards rushing and six touchdowns.

The Houston Hawks are also in action tonight, facing Kenai at 6:30 p.m. on the Peninsula. Houston (2-1) is trying to bounce back from a 22-0 loss at Barrow last weekend. Kenai (1-1) beat Kodiak last week. Palmer and Wasilla both played Thursday night. The Moose opened Northern Lights Conference play at Eagle River, and Wasilla hosted Dimond in a nonconference match. Results of both games were not available prior to press time. See frontiersman.com/sports for more.

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