Not short on effort, but Knights fall short

ANCHORAGE -- The Colony Knights had a good run through the 2004 campaign.

But in the end it was a little West Anchorage running that led to the close of the Knights' season.

West rushed for 133 of its 278 yards and scored 10 points in the fourth quarter. Despite a commendable effort by the Colony, the Eagles performance in the final period proved to be the difference in a 24-14 West victory.

West (10-0) advances to the ASAA First National Bowl against Railbelt champion North Pole (9-1).

A jubilant Eagle squad greeted a raucous Anchorage Football Stadium crowd of over 1,800, with excitement appropriate for only cheerleaders during the introduction of the squads. But in the opening minutes of the contest, an inspired Colony defense set a tone that called for a defensive battle. The Knights allowed West -- a team which has scored more than 400 points in its first nine games of the season -- to just one first down in the first quarter and seven first-half points.

"Everyone on defense stepped up," Colony senior Justin Schwartzbauer said. "Our coach had a great scheme."

Colony did not allow the high-scoring Eagle offense to reach the end zone until midway through the second quarter when Ozelle Jamestown powered in from the 5-yard-line.

Jamestown's score capped off one of only two West drives that crossed into Colony territory in the first half. On West's second trip into Colony territory, with the score tied 7-7, a 26-yard Ricardo Pena pass and a Colony penalty gave the Eagles the ball deep in the Knights' end, but Colony senior Rhett Magner picked off a Pena third-down pass in the end zone to halt the Eagle drive.

In addition to the Magner interception, the Colony defense stopped West drives after just three Eagle plays three times in the first half. Nathan Kowalczk and Ricky Cunningham combined for a sack and forced a 12-yard West loss on a failed Eagle drive in the first quarter. Knight defensive tackle Dominick Bellotte generally terrorized West throughout.

"I just had a feeling our kids were going to play defense today," Colony head coach Randy Magner said. "They were jacked up all week; they wanted to come out and get after them. Defensively, I was very pleased."

Though Colony had the answer defensively in the first half, the Knights were unable to put the ball in the end zone more than once in the first half.

On the kickoff following Jamestown's score, Schwartzbauer sparked the Knights with a 64-yard return. With the ball on the 23-yard-line Rhett Magner completed an 18-yard pass to Billy Collins over the middle, and then ran up the middle for a 5-yard score.

Colony had another opportunity late in the first half, but was unable to crack the goal line. Following a nine-play drive in which Magner completed five passes for 51 yards, the Knights faced a first-and-goal situation at the 3-yard-line with just eight seconds remaining the half. Magner took the snap and followed a pulling Bellotte around the left side of the Colony line toward the end zone. As a flood of Eagles forced Magner toward the sideline, the Colony quarterback flipped the ball to Knight running back Shawn Olivera, who trailed behind. West kept the Colony runner out of the end zone and Olivera was unable to get out of bounds to stop the clock.

"That was a critical play. If we could have picked up that touchdown, it would have been a different story," Randy Magner said.

Magner said two plays were called prior to the play- a quarterback keeper and quick slant to Schwartzbauer -- Colony's most reliable receiver.

"We didn't think we could run up the middle so we wanted to put the ball in Rhett's hands and see what he could do with it," Magner said. "We had the plays called. The first one was supposed to get out of bounds if we didn't get in."

Magner threw a 38-yard touchdown strike to Schwartzbuaer in the fourth quarter to cut the score to 17-14, but Jordan Jamestown added a late score for the Eagles to give West a 10-point advantage.

Not only was the contest the final game a host of seniors, but Randy Magner coached his last game for the Knights. The Colony mentor finished his career with a 50-29 record and seven playoff appearances in nine

seasons.

North Pole 58, Juneau 30

North Pole, the 2004 Railbelt Conference champs, moved into the state title game with a 58-30 win over Juneau.

Senior running back Perry Monzulla rushed for 254 yards and four touchdowns in the win. Patriot quarterback Chris Powell tossed a pair of touchdowns and Cam Culver, the 2004 Railbelt defensive player of the year, returned an interception 73 yards for a touchdown.

With the win, North Pole advanced to its first state championship since 1987.