Knights, Warriors head north for conference games

PALMER — The Colony Knights and Wasilla Warriors travel north to Fairbanks this week, and a win in the Interior could just about guarantee a playoff spot for both teams.

Colony (1-0) and Wasilla (1-1) already have a win in the Railbelt, which features only four regular-season conference games and sends four of its five teams to the postseason. The Knights are at West Valley, 2-3 overall and 0-2 in conference play, Friday at 7 p.m. Colony head coach Rhett Magner said the Knights (5-0 overall, 1-0 in conference) will certainly not overlook the Wolfpack.

“West Valley is tough, no matter what the record,” Magner said after Colony’s 18-0 win over Wasilla Sept. 8. “They’re always athletic and fast. (Head coach Kyle Allison) is a good coach, good guy. He’ll have him ready. They’ll want a piece of us.”

The Knights improved to 5-0 with the win over the Warriors. The win marked Colony’s second straight shutout against the Warriors, but Colony led just 3-0 at the half. Colony had four offensive drives stall in the red zone during the first half, and had to settle for just a Noah Krozel field goal.

“We have to execute better, have to focus and not commit penalties,” Magner said.

Division I West Valley snapped a three-game losing streak with a 30-14 win over Division II Eagle River last week in Fairbanks. Two weeks ago, Chugiak beat the Wolfpack 60-12 in West Valley’s conference opener, and the Wolfpack followed with a 17-13 loss to Wasilla.

The Warriors are at Lathrop Saturday at 5 p.m.

Much like Magner’s expectations of his team’s game against West Valley, Wasilla head coach Will Stout is expecting to see an athletic team from the Interior at Lathrop.

“They’re going to spread it out,” Stout said.

Last season, Lathrop quarterback Josh Hernandez threw for 479 yards during a 41-21 win over the Warriors.

“They threw for almost 500 yards against us. The boys have not forgotten that,” Stout said.

After allowing 50 points during a loss to North Pole in Week 3, the Warriors have allowed only a combined 32 points during the 17-13 win over West Valley and the 18-0 loss to Colony. Stout said he’s seen improvement and there are certainly things Wasilla can build on.

“It hurts them to lose. They’re going to take that feeling when we go up to Lathrop,” Stout said after the loss to the Knights.

Lathrop will be coming off its first win of the season, a 47-22 win over Division II North Pole. The Malemutes started the season with losses to Dimond, West Anchorage, East Anchorage and Chugiak.

Palmer at Eagle River

The Palmer Moose continue Northern Lights Conference play Saturday at 2 p.m. at Eagle River.

Palmer, amid a four-week stretch of NLC play, is 1-1 in conference and 1-3 overall, after a 28-10 loss to five-time defending state champion Soldotna last week. The Stars, who won their state-record 54th straight game, led just 14-10 late in the third quarter, but was able to score twice during the final frame.

Senior Larry Cutsforth rushed for more than 100 yards for Palmer, which thumped Kodiak 57-0 two weeks ago.

Eagle River (2-3, 0-1) is still in search of its first conference win. The Wolves were 2-1 through the first three weeks of the season, but have lost two straight, including a 47-28 conference loss to Kenai two weeks ago. West Valley beat ERHS 30-14 in Fairbanks last week.

The Moose will also try to help their longtime head coach, Rod Christiansen, make history Saturday. Christiansen has 149 career victories, one shy of the all-time mark, 150, held by the late Buck Nystrom.

Valdez at Houston

The Houston Hawks will try to bounce back this week, and they’ll have the opportunity to do it at home. The Hawks host Valdez Friday at 7 p.m. at Houston High.

Last week, Eielson beat Houston 28-7 in a rematch of the 2016 medium-schools state championship game at Eielson. The Hawks dropped to 3-2 overall in 1-1 in the Aurora Conference. Houston remains alive in the race for one of the conference’s two playoff berths. In addition to its conference game against Valdez, the Hawks fly to Barrow next week to play the Whalers in a conference game.

Valdez (0-4) is still in search of its first win, following a 6-0 loss to Voznesenka last week.

Redington at Vozensenka

Like Houston, Redington will also try to bounce back from a tough conference loss, but the Huskies will be on the road. Redington meets Voznesenka in Homer Friday at 5 p.m.

Last week, Redington dropped to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in Peninsula Conference play with a 39-0 loss to Nikiski. Redington had scored a conference win over Seward the week before. Despite the loss, the Huskies are still in the race for one of the conference’s two postseason bids. The Huskies continue Peninsula play next week, hosting Homer.

Voznesenka is coming off its first win of the season, a 6-0 nonconference victory over Valdez.

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