Knights post big win at Palmer

PALMER —On the rivals’ silver anniversary, the Colony Knights struck gold.

In the 25th regular-season meeting in the history of the Colony-Palmer varsity football series, the Knights used a 50-point night to post a 50-7 victory over the Moose at Machetanz Field in Palmer.

The Knights scored on their first six offensive possessions in the victory en route to improving to 2-1 overall. Colony also used the offensive outburst to rebound from a 22-7 loss to East Anchorage last week, a game in which the Knights were held scoreless for the final three quarters.

“With a Valley opponent, we were excited already. But with that loss last week, it motivated us even more,” Colony senior Cade Havel said after the win.

Havel helped end that three-quarter scoreless streak quickly, breaking away for a 71-yard touchdown score on just Colony’s third offensive play of the game.

“The line was blocking for me, that’s the reason I made it that far,” Havel said. “The whole offensive line was huge. We put up 50. That’s all them.”

Behind that line, Havel finished with 110 yards and four touchdowns on only 10 carries.

“Cade trained his butt off for a year. That’s kind of what everyone is seeing right now,” Colony head coach Rhett Magner said of Havel, who has touchdown runs of 91 and 71 yards already this year. “He’s been training to get bigger, faster, stronger. He’s doing whatever he can to help is team win.”

Havel already has 400 yards rushing and seven touchdowns in three games this season.

Havel was one of nine players with at least a carry for a Colony offense that finished with 311 yards rushing. Quarterback Parker Kizer added 86 yards. Dawson Nash finished with 42 yards, and Jake Hessinger chipped in 41 yards and a score.

“In this offense, we have a plethora of places we could be going,” Magner said.

Havel said the options help everyone have success.

“That’s the beauty of this offense and this team, everyone’s a weapon,” Magner said.

Kizer also tossed a pair of second-quarter touchdowns in the win. The junior connected with Jon Pomreneke on a 48-yard score. Less than two minutes later, Kizer connected with Caleb Bailey on a 24-yard touchdown pass.

Hessinger also had a 23-yard touchdown run in the win, and kicker Noah Krozel booted a 20-yard field goal.

While the Knights bounced back with the victory, the Palmer loss continued a rough stretch for the Moose. Palmer is now 0-3 overall. The medium schools Moose faced three large schools opponents — East Anchorage, Bartlett and Colony — during the first three weeks of the season.

The Moose were held to only 47 yards on the ground, but Clayton Southwick tossed his first touchdown pass of the season. Southwick connected with Skyler Hale on an 18-yard scoring pass in the fourth. Southwick finished 2 of 6 for 30 yards. Nick DeBach led Palmer with 24 yards on the ground.

The Knights now own the edge in the 25-year history of the rivalry. The rivals entered the game tied 12-12 in 24 regular-season meetings and 1-1 in a pair of playoff games.

In Week 4, Palmer will try to jumpstart its season when the Moose begin Northern Lights Conference play Sept. 2 at Kodiak.

Colony hosts Dimond Sept. 2 in a rematch of its 2015 large-schools quarterfinals loss to the Lynx.

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

Colony 50, Palmer 7

Friday, Palmer High School

First quarter:

Colony — Havel 71 run (Krozel kick) 4:55.

Colony — Havel 4 run (Krozel kick) 0:53.

Second quarter:

Colony — Hessinger 23 run (Krozel kick) 7:48.

Colony — Havel 14 run (pass failed) 4:47.

Colony — Pomrenke 48 pass from Kizer (pass failed) 4:37.

Colony — Bailey 24 pass from Kizer (Krozel kick) 2:51.

Third quarter:

Colony — Havel 1 run (Krozel kick) 9:55.

Colony — Krozel 20 FG (5:35).

Fourth quarter:

Palmer — Hale 18 pass from Southwick (Cutsforth kick) 9:10.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS:

RUSHING — Colony: Havel 10-110, Kizer 7-86, Nash 5-42, Hessinger 4-41, Pomrenke 1-19, Lorentz 1-12, C. Jimenez 1-2, Christy 1-0, C. Pead 1-(-1). Palmer: Cutsforth 23-16, DeBach 12-24, Southwick 10-(-6), A. Farris 3-14, L. Farris 1-(-1).

PASSING — Colony: Kizer 4-4-0—110, Lorentz 1-1-0—15. Palmer: Southwick 2-6-1—30.

RECEIVING — Colony: Pomrenke 2-63, N. Pead 2-38, Bailey 1-24. Palmer: Hale 1-18, Johnson 1-8.