Knights rally past Moose

PALMER — After controlling the first three quarters, the Palmer Moose stood near midfield with the lead and the football early in the fourth quarter.

And then things unraveled for the Moose.

Colony’s Ridge Ravel returned an interception 53 yards for a touchdown, sparking the Knights during Colony’s 21-7 come-from-behind win over the Moose Friday night at Palmer High School.

“I thought the wide receiver was wide open, and Ridge came out of nowhere and took it to the house,” Colony senior Eric Christy said after the win. “It really gave us a momentum swing, instantly.”

Colony senior Julian McPhail said the Palmer pass route was something the Knights defense prepared for.

“We’ve been seeing it on film all week,” McPhail said. “(Ridge) just read it perfect.”

The Ravel touchdown tied the score at 7, and less than five minutes later Christy and McPhail connected on a 29-yard scoring pass to give Colony its first lead of the game. Christy, Colony’s first-year starting quarterback, found McPhail streaking down the right sideline with about six minutes to play.

“I just threw it up and he went and got it,” Christy said.

McPhail said chemistry with a longtime teammate was key to the play.

“It’s natural,” McPhail said. “We’ve been throwing back and forth since the fourth grade. We know that connection is there.”

Christy added a late 1-yard plunge into the end zone to give the Knights the two-score lead.

Colony (2-0) used fourth-quarter heroics to score a victory for the second straight week. Last week, Christy scored in the final seconds to help the Knights edge South Anchorage on the road. Friday, Colony scored 21 unanswered during the final 10 minutes in the game.

“A lot of heart,” Colony head coach Fred McKenney said of his players.

Palmer senior quarterback Luke Guggenmos threw an 18-yard touchdown to Makeehan Knittle late in the first half to give Palmer a 7-0 lead. Guggenmos had another touchdown pass to Levi Farris called back due to a penalty.

The Palmer defense forced a pair of turnovers and held Colony scoreless for three quarters.

“Palmer played us tough the whole game,” McKenney said.

Colony collected 137 of its 257 total yards during the final 10 minutes of the game.

“Not a good thing to be a fourth-quarter team always. I’d like to have all that stuff happen (earlier),” Christy said. “But I’ll take it. A W’s a W.”

Palmer dropped to 1-1 with the loss.

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

Colony 21, Palmer 7

Friday, Palmer High

First quarter:

No scoring

Second quarter:

Palmer — Knittle 18 pass from Guggenmos (Knittle kick) 1:36.

Third quarter:

No scoring

Fourth quarter:

Colony — Raval 53 interception return (Krozel kick) 10:41.

Colony — McPhail 29 pass from Christy (Krozel kick) 6:00.

Colony — Christy 1 run (Krozel kick) 3:48.

Individual statistics:

Rushing — Colony: Christy 19-55, Virvilo 8-50, McPhail 4-17, Jimenez 3-(-8); Palmer: Bruesch 11-23, Christiansen 9-27, Guggenmos 5-(-12), Marshall 4-9, Freeman 2-11, Van Tassel 1-4.

Passing — Colony: Christy 9-13-0—143; Palmer: Guggenmos 15-24-2—112.

Receiving — Colony: McPhail 3-85, Virvilo 2-31, Raval 2-17, Kyle Dearborn 2-10; Palmer: Van Tassel 5-34, Knittle 3-36, Mumma 3-21, Corbin 3-19, Farris 1-2.