Patriots edge Colony, end Knights’ season with a loss

NORTH POLE — Snow held off as the the North Pole Patriots held on in the final minutes Friday night, defeating the Colony Nights 20-19 in a nonconference football game at Patriot Pride Field at North Pole High School.

The Patriots beat their former Railbelt Conference rival in the Boot Bowl — partly thanks to a holding penalty during a 2-point conversion attempt for Colony, which was followed by the Patriots blocking a point-after kick.

North Pole had at least three times the penalties of Colony.

The Boot Bowl honors former North Pole and Eielson head coach Buck Nystrom, who, with a record of 150-88, had more wins than any other high school football coach in Alaska’s history. The Patriots were awarded a bronzed trophy of a football cleat Nystrom wore when he played at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Nystrom died in 2006 after heart surgery complications.

North Pole opened the action Friday, scoring twice in the first quarter.

On the opening drive, De’Aundre Campbell scored on a running touchdown from inside the 10-yard line at 9:09. Garrett Wollmann kicked a 1-point conversion to put the Patriots up 7-0. Then, with 19 seconds left in the first, Wollmann caught a 10-yard pass on Colony’s 40-yard line and ran it into the end zone. Wollmann missed the PAT, and the score stayed 13-0.

Colony’s Steven Bilafer scored on a quarterback sneak from the 1-yard line at 10:17 of the second quarter, and the Knights cut North Pole’s lead to 13-7. The only other second-quarter scoring attempt was a missed field goal by Wollmann.

Colony’s Tucker Looney scored on a roughly 5-yard pass during the opening drive of the second half, at 9:24 of the third quarter. A failed 2-point conversion knotted the teams at 13. The score remained tied heading into the final quarter.

At 8:29 in the fourth quarter, Patriots running back Simi Skipps ran in the ball in on first and goal from within the 5-yard line. A PAT propped the Patriots up 20-13.

Then, with 2:16 left to play, Colony’s Zachariah Doan ran the ball in from the 1-yard line. Colony went for the win with a 2-point conversion, but was called for holding. A point-after attempt followed, but was blocked by the Patriots, sealing North Pole’s victory.

The Patriots had already clinched the Southeast Conference title with a record of 3-0, and finished overall at 5-3. Colony finished 1-3 in the Railbelt and dropped to 4-4 overall.

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