Knights rally, fall short in football quarterfinals

PALMER — Facing a 20-point deficit late in the third quarter, Colony rallied. But the Knights fell just short.

Colony scored a pair of second-half touchdowns, but Dimond held on for a 34-26 quarterfinal win over the Knights Friday at Colony High.

“They battled all season long. Nothing different tonight,” Colony head coach Rhett Magner said after the loss. “We gave up a couple of big ones, and couldn’t climb out of that hole.”

Dimond junior quarterback Kyle Henrickson threw for 330 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Lynx (6-3) to the win over Colony, and into the semifinals where they will face Chugiak (6-3) next weekend. After throwing for more than 200 yards in the first half, Henrickson stunned the Knights with a pair of long touchdown passes in the third quarter. The junior connected with receiver Kota Ainu’u on a 55-yard touchdown pass early in the third. Later in the quarter, Henrickson dumped a screen pass to running back JJ Tanuvasa, and Tanuvasa rumbled 66 yards for the score.

“He’s definitely got the best arm we’ve seen so far,” Magner said of the Dimond quarteback. “To see him on film doesn’t do any justice.”

Henrickson threw three touchdown passes to Rafa Zavala during the first half, with the duo connecting on scoring throws of 9, 35 and 68 yards.

“The velocity on the throws is pretty good. It was tough for us to break on any balls in the secondary,” Magner said.

Zavala finished with eight catches for 164 yards and three scores.

Dimond did all of this damage against the top scoring defense in the state. Colony entered the game allowing 10 points per game, best at any level of prep football in Alaska. The Knights, winners of their final six regular season games, had not allowed more than 12 points in a game during that stretch. The Knights also forced 17 turnovers during the winning streak (three fumble recoveries and 14 interceptions), but Dimond didn’t turn the ball over at all.

And on the other side of the ball, Colony enjoyed its best offensive game of the season in the loss. The Knights’ 384 total yards is Colony’s best single-game total this year. Quarterback Steven Bilafer threw for 148 yards, the second-highest total of his senior year. Junior Cade Havel rushed for a career-high 95 yards. Sophomore Jon Pomrenke finished with a career-high five catches in a game.

“It was good. Unfortunately we kind of turned the corner offensively in the second half of the last game,” Magner said. “I’m proud of them offensively. They battled, got us back into the game and gave us a shot at the end, but we ran out of time.”

With the Knights down by 20 late in the third quarter, senior Jordan Nero broke free for a 25-yard touchdown run. Colony cut the Dimond lead to one score when Bilafer connected with Pomrenke on a 15-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.

Bilafer, who capped his senior season with more than 1,200 yards from scrimmage (720 passing, 490 rushing), ran for a pair of rushing touchdowns in the first half. Bilafer opened the game with a 2-yard plunge to give the Knights the 7-0 lead. Later in the first half, Bilafer, on a read-option play, broke through the middle of the Dimond defense and ran 69 yards for a score to help Colony tie the score at 14.

“That’s an athlete making a play,” Magner said of the long touchdown run. “That’s exactly why we run this type of offense, for those types of reads. When he reads it correctly and runs it, good stuff like that happens.”

Bilafer’s night also included the rare pass and catch for a quarterback. After his pass was deflected into the air by a Dimond defensive lineman, Bilafer caught the ball and ran for a 13-yard gain.

Despite the loss for Colony, which ends the 2015 season 6-3, Magner said he’s proud of the way his players battled in the second half.

“They changed the culture, which is what we came in trying to accomplish as a coaching staff. We wanted to change things, change their attitudes,” Magner said. “We said some things, applied some things, and they took off and ran with it. They did all of the work. They changed it.”

The Knights will graduate about a dozen seniors, but a solid number of juniors and sophomores are expected to return.

Magner’s message to those returning was crystal clear.

“This is a horrible feeling,” Magner told a group of his younger athletes. “I guarantee you don’t want this feeling your senior year. Next season starts tomorrow. Let’s go to work and do better next year.”

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

Dimond 34, Colony 26

Large-schools quarterfinals

Oct. 9, Colony High

First quarter:

Colony — Bilafer 2 run (Krozel kick) 8:29.

Dimond — Zavala 9 pass from Henrickson (Moran kick) 4:01.

Second quarter:

Dimond — Zavala 68 pass from Henrickson (Moran kick) 6:35.

Colony — Bilafer 69 run (Krozel kick) 5:09.

Dimond — Zavala 35 pass from Henrickson (kick failed) 0:18.

Third quarter:

Dimond ¬— Ainu’u 55 pass from Henrickson (Ainu’u pass from Henrickson) 7:30.

Dimond — Tanuvasa 66 pass from Henrickson (kick blocked) 2:06.

Colony — Nero 25 run (kick blocked) 1:36.

Fourth quarter:

Colony — Pomrenke 15 pass from Bilafer (kick failed) 8:01.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS:

RUSHING — Dimond: Tanuvasa 16-82, Mathies 3-34, Henrickson 3-3, Zavala 3-(-9); Colony: Bilafer 15-71, Havel 13-95, Nash 7-15, Nero 4-40, Hessinger 3-15.

PASSING — Dimond: Henrickson 15-31-0—330; Colony: Bilafer 12-26-1—148.

RECEIVING — Dimond: Zavala 8-164, Tufaga 4-40, Tanuvasa 2-71, Ainu’u 1-55; Colony: Pomrenke 5-56, Hessinger 3-27, Bailey 2-32, Nash 1-20, Bilafer 1-13.