Knights prepare for playoff showdown

The Colony Knights opened the 2003 season with a loss to East, and they are hoping the season does not end the same way it started.

With Colony and East slated to play Saturday in the second round of the 4A state playoffs, each team is hoping the second meeting leads to one more game.

The winner of the Colony-East matchup will move into the 4A title game.

Colony, the fourth seed from the Northern Railbelt Conference, advanced to the state semifinals with a 12-7 win over Valley rival Palmer.

After a tough 28-14 loss to the explosive T-Birds in the opener, Colony split a pair of games against small school foes Soldotna and Kenai.

Colony followed with consecutive wins over Wasilla and West Valley, and dropped its final three conference contests of the year.

Colony slid into the playoffs, despite a three-game losing streak.

The Knights' win over Palmer was a high point to their roller coaster season.

Through their ups and downs, the Knights have made changes in both their offensive and defensive philosophies in an effort to make an ascent up the standings and prevent a downward spiral.

"We could have been much better early in the season if we had been running a more suitable offense," Colony head coach Randy Magner said. "Our system didn't match our personnel."

Colony went into the 2003 season with a shotgun, spread-out, pass happy offense. After an inconsistent start the Knights bagged the shotgun approach in favor of a more conservative game.

"The biggest problem with our offense is we have David Craig, Shawn Olivera and Billy Collins standing on the sideline," Magner said earlier this season about his shotgun offense.

The changes gave Colony a serviceable committee of running backs. Olivera has rushed for a team-high 734 yards and 10 touchdowns, and Craig has provided the Knights with the inside running attack they lacked early in the season.

"We had to get David Craig more involved in the offense," Magner said. "He is such a good inside runner, we had to utilize him."

Colony also made changes on the offensive line. The Knights moved center Dominick Bellotte to guard and tackle Curtis Shirley to center.

"We had our best offensive lineman, Dominick, at center when we were trying to run the shotgun," Magner said. "(Now) we want to use him better. Allow him to pull and trap."

Shirley, a career tackle and long snapper for the Knights, is seeing his first action as the everyday center.

"Considering his inexperience (at the position), I thought he did well," Magner said of Shirley's transition.

Defensively, the Knights have had to prepare much differently for East than they did for Palmer.

"It is a whole lot different," Magner said. "Palmer is pretty one-dimensional, our focus was to just stop the run. We can't do that with East."

On a rain-soaked Machetanz Field, a stellar effort from the Colony defense and a steady Knight running attack played pivotal roles in the upset of Palmer, the conference's top seed.

Behind the blocking of Bellotte, Curtis Shirley and the interior of the Colony line, the Knights consistently handed the ball to fullback David Craig in the contest.

Craig ran for 68 of his team-high 70 yards and ran for a pair of second half scores to help lead the Knights to victory.

East stormed into the semifinals with a 52-28 win over Chugiak.

The T-Birds burned Chugiak through the air and on the ground, just as they had done to several other teams during their five-game winning streak.

Junior running back Ryan Stickler ran for 286 yards and four touchdowns and senior quarterback Derek Laws threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns.

Senior wide receiver Casey Flair caught four balls for 125 yards and both Laws touchdown passes.

"Our units will have to have good performances," Magner said of his defense. "Our secondary will have to be good against Casey Flair."