Knights win overtime thriller

FAIRBANKS — The top two teams in the Railbelt Conference put on quite a show Saturday night as the No. 1-ranked Colony Knights topped the No. 3 Lathrop in a high school football overtime thriller at Lathrop Stadium.

In a game that had more twists and turns than a highway cutting through a steep mountain pass, Colony's backup quarterback Marcus Lorentz scored on a 5-yard run to give the Knights a 26-20 victory.

Lorentz's game-winning score came after the Knights had blocked a field-goal attempt to end Lathrop's first overtime possession.

"Our defense came up big on that first overtime possession," Colony coach Rhett Magner said after the postgame handshake. "We know that defense wins championships and we've put a big emphasis on that for the past year."

The Knights improved to 6-1 on the season and 3-0 in the Railbelt Conference heading into the final week of play in the regular season. Colony can wrap up the title with a win against the Chugiak Mustangs.

Lathrop dropped to 5-2 on the season and 2-1 in the Railbelt. The Malemutes wrap up the regular season when they take on crosstown rival West Valley next week at West Valley.

"We took the No. 1 team in the state right to the wall," said Lathrop coach Luke Balash. "We just have to learn from this and go forward."

It wasn't the most crisp game every played, as penalties, fumbles and interceptions all came in key moments.

"There are half a dozen or so plays that could look at that could have changed things, but that's just the way football goes sometimes," Balash said.

Lathrop opened the scoring three minutes into the game when Connor Wagar connected on a 30-yard field goal attempt. The Malemutes recovered a fumble on the Colony 40-yard line and drove to the 12 before settling for the three points.

Colony was at midfield and driving in the second quarter when Lathrop recovered its third fumble of the game. However, when the Lathrop defender was finally being tackled at the Colony 25-yard line, another fumble occurred and the Knights came up with the ball.

Colony then drove 75 yards for the go-ahead score when Jon Pomrenke hauled in a Parker Kizer 20-yard pass in the end zone. The extra point was blocked, giving the Knights a 6-3 lead with 5:32 remaining in the first half.

That lead lasted all of 15 seconds.

Lathrop's electrifying kick return specialist RJ Henry took a lateral on the ensuing kickoff and raced 80 yards for the touchdown, and the Malemutes took a 10-6 lead into the locker room at halftime.

"He's something special," Balash said with a smile.

Lathrop forced Colony to punt on the next possession. It looked like Henry was going to work his magic again as he raced up the sideline in front of the Lathrop bench, but his 65-yard return came to an abrupt end when Colony punter Kizer stripped the ball and the Knights recovered.

The Knights received the second-half kickoff and were back in front in a little more than a minute.

Colony returned the kick to the Lathrop 40 and Cade Havel carried the ball three times, scoring on a 2-yard run to put the Knights ahead 13-10.

On Lathrop's next possession, Colony looked like it was going to pull away when Nick Pead returned an interception about 70 yards into the end zone, but the play was called back on a penalty.

Lathrop's Wagar tied the score when he nailed a 21-yard field goal with 1:59 left in the third quarter.

Colony regained the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter when Kizer raced 10 yards into the end zone for a 20-13 advantage.

Lathrop drove 74 yards for the game-tying score on the next possession.

The key play in the drive came on a third-and-15 play when Lathrop quarterback Josh Hernandez connected with Kailen Martin for a 34-yard gain to the Colony 5. Colony's Lorentz looked like he was poised to make an interception on the play, but Martin took the ball right out of Lorentz's hands and raced up the sideline before being tackled.

Hernandez scored two plays later to tie the game at 20-20 and set the stage for overtime.

"Both sides made some big mistakes out there tonight, but in the end we made the right things happen," Magner said. "Lathrop has some amazing athletes and we beat a great football team. Luke is doing the right things with those guys."

Balash had the same respect for Magner and the Knights.

"Colony has a heck of a program and Rhett is doing a great job over there," Balash said. "Maybe we'll see them down the road in the playoffs. Wouldn't that be something?"

Contact the News-Miner sports department at 459-7586.