Knights, Patriots hit the field in a ‘Battle for the Boots’

PALMER — The Mayor’s Cup is not the only prize prep football teams are playing for tonight. The Colony Knights and the North Pole Patriots will battle for the boots at 7 p.m. at Colony High.

Coaches at Colony and North Pole created a new tradition last year to recognize the rivalry between the Railbelt Conference rival Knights and Patriots and to honor the memory of the late Buck Nystrom, a former North Pole head coach and the winningest head coach in Alaska high school football history.

The new series is complete with a traveling trophy, a bronzed pair of cleats that Nystrom wore throughout his playing career at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

“It’s to honor (Nystrom) and a good, all-round rivalry with North Pole,” Colony head coach Brian McIntosh said. “We like North Pole, respect the heck out of their program, coaches.”

The players will also hit the field tonight playing for a cause that’s special to McIntosh. A portion of the proceeds from tickets sold will be donated to the American Cancer Association. McIntosh was diagnosed with cancer last spring. Colony offensive coordinator and line coach Jason Ross also was recently diagnosed with cancer.

“It’s a great organization,” McIntosh said. “This is kind of a way of paying back.”

Last season, North Pole High donated part of its ticket sales to the Interior Cancer Association.

Colony also will try to score its first Railbelt Conference win of the season. McIntosh said he’d like to see his seniors go out on a winning note and give his returning players something to build on for next year.

“The underclassmen just want the seniors to go out with a win,” McIntosh said. “They want it bad for the seniors.”

Despite his team’s record, McIntosh said he continues to see improvement.

“We just had a huge team meeting. We finally recognize we have the talent. But you can’t win on talent alone,” McIntosh said. “We need to play as a team.”

McIntosh said he’s been impressed with the overall attitude of his squad.

“I’ve never coached a 0-7 team before, but that being said, they don’t act like they’re 0-7,” McIntosh said.

The Patriots are 2-5 overall and 1-4 in Railbelt Conference play.

Hawks cap season at home tonight

The Houston Hawks will cap their 2011 season tonight against the Homer Mariners at 7 p.m. at Houston High School

Houston (3-3 overall, 1-3 in the Northern Lights Conference) is fresh off a 37-20 win over Lathrop.

Senior Tyler Barron scored three times to help Houston score the victory over the large schools Railbelt Conference team.

Homer is also coming off a big win. The Mariners (6-1, 3-1) beat Kenai Central 21-14 in double-overtime last week.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him at twitter.com/matsu_sports.