Never look ahead

PALMER -- Prior to their nonconference match with Kenai, the Colony Knights got word the Kardinals might be looking past the game, concerned more with their Northern Lights Conference scheduled that begins next week.

Colony may have taught Kenai a lesson in never looking ahead as the Knights trampled Kenai 31-6 at Colony High School on Saturday.

"That does irritate us," Colony senior lineman Dominick Bellotte said. "All the press, with their coach saying they really didn't care about us. That was the big thing, they didn't care about us, they just wanted to make sure their players didn't get hurt. They just wanted their players fresh for next week."

Bellotte and the Knights not only had the thought of Kenai looking past Colony, but a memory of a brutal loss to the Kardinals in Kenai last season.

"We had a lot of motivation, they whooped us pretty bad last year," Bellotte said.

Colony used that motivation right from the kickoff, scoring 11 seconds into the game. After the Knight special teams recovered their own kickoff, Shawn Olivera burst through the middle of the Colony offensive line on the first play from scrimmage and sprinted 15 yards for the score.

Colony scored 11 seconds into the first half, with one second left in the first half and 64 seconds into the second half.

Olivera plunged in from two yards out to score his third touchdown of the first half with two seconds remaining in the second quarter.

The 5-foot-8 tailback also scored on a 49-yard run in the second quarter.

On their first drive of the second half, the Knights took a 28-6 lead on a Justin Schwartzbauer touchdown catch. Rhett Magner found an open Schwartzbauer over the middle and the senior wide receiver sprinted away from the Kenai defense for the 33-yard score.

Colony's task defensivly was corralling Kenai running back Dakota Craig, the reigning small school offensive player of the year. After burning Lathrop for 180 yards and five touchdowns last week, Craig was held to just 101 yards on 32 carries by a stout Colony defense.

"Coach (Jamie) Mayo brought an awesome scheme," Bellotte said. "We just keyed their number one lineman [Logan McKay] and went at them."

Bellotte and fellow interior lineman James Savage led a swarm of Knights against Craig. The senior running back faced a gang of Knights on each carry and the usually explosive runner broke runs of 10 yards or more just twice.

Craig posted the first touchdown scored against the Knight defense this season. Midway through the second quarter, Craig cut the score to 14-6 with a 4-yard touchdown run.

The Knights' shutout streak ended at nine quarters. Colony blanked South Anchorage 35-0 in the season opener and Soldotna 21-0 last week.

Colony is scheduled to face Lathrop, which dropped a 39-31 decision to Soldotna on Saturday, in Fairbanks on Sept. 4. The venue of the game is still in question due to persistent smoke and poor air quality due to Fairbanks-area forest fires. As of press time a ban of all outdoor prep sporting events was still in effect. Lathrop was forced to play its home opener against Soldotna at Wasilla on Saturday. Colony is expected to know by Wednesday whether the game will be played in Fairbanks or the Valley.

Wasilla 20, Skyview 9

The Wasilla Warriors erased a 9-0 deficit and escaped with a 20-9 win over the Skyview Panthers in nonconference action in Soldotna on Saturday.

Matt Crane sparked the come-from-behind victory with a pair of touchdowns.

Crane caught a 39-yard Zack Bennett touchdown pass in the second quarter and returned an interception 36 yards for a score in the third quarter.

Jake Wade also scored for Wasilla.

The Warriors improved to 2-1 on the season and will return home Friday to host the West Valley Wolfpack.