Prep football: CHS scores another win up north

Aug. 19, 2007

By ADAM RAEDER/ Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

FAIRBANKS - The North Pole Patriots knew what to expect out of the Colony Knights - a tough, physical game.

It was the Patriots' own play Saturday that came as a surprise.

North Pole couldn't overcome a litany of mental mistakes, including three costly fumbles, as they dropped their Railbelt Conference opener 20-7 in a game in which both teams left Patriot Pride Field thinking they could have performed better.

&#8220I told the kids that was probably the closest score I'd even seen in a complete beating, because they really beat us in every aspect of the game except the scoreboard,” Patriots coach Richard Henert said. &#8220I think our youth showed - our youth in our coaching staff and in our players - because we kind of got outcoached and outplayed by the.”

The Patriots weren't the only ones making mistakes, but they were the ones that got burned by them. North Pole coughed the ball up five times, losing three of those fumbles, while getting penalized eight times for 70 yards.

&#8220Bottom line is, I don't think the fans saw the best game from either team,” Colony coach Jamie Mayo, whose team was able to jump on two potentially costly laterals. &#8220Both of us had a lot of mistakes - physical mistakes, mental mistakes. Luckily for us, we capitalized on them. Even more lucky for us, they weren't able to capitalize on them. It could have been 21-0 for them at half, or it could have been 21-0 for us at half. It was one of those weird games where everyone decides they're going to play like knuckleheads, and let's see who's the last one

standing.”

The Knights were left standing thanks to the powerful running of senior Jaron Murphy. Murphy ran through numerous Patriots arm tackles, often behind the line, to amass 140 yards on 31 carries - a total that would have been higher if he hadn't suffered big losses jumping on two errant Bradley Truax swing passes that turned into laterals.

&#8220I was trying to keep my feet moving,” Murphy said. &#8220I've always done that, since my little years when I was playing, I was taught that, and Mayo tells me that now.”

By taking his coach's advice, Murphy eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the second time in as many games and has his coach placing him in pretty good company.

&#8220We said at the beginning of the year, because we moved him from one of our inside receivers, when we saw Murph run the ball - not saying he's Chebon Jimenez, but he does a lot of the things Chebon did,” Mayo said. &#8220He runs a lot bigger than his size is. That's a tough kid to bring down.”

While Murphy's running helped Colony seal the win, it was the Patriots who got on the scoreboard first.

On the game's opening drive, North Pole quarterback Steven Wright found wideout Trevor McCumby alone behind the Knights' secondary for a 51-yard for what would prove to be North Pole's lone score of the game.

Wright finished the game 6-of-15 passing for 98 yards, and was never able to hook up with senior Andy Musgrove, his favorite target in the Patriot's Week 1 loss to Sohi.

&#8220(We were) just watching that pass,” said Murphy, also a safety for the Knights. &#8220They killed Sohi on that pass to Musgrove. Musgrove had a lot of yards, and so did (running back Todd) McCormick. Linebackers tackled McCormick real well, and they just got that one lucky pass that shouldn't have happened. We're disappointed that they scored.”

McCormick finished with 17 carries for 92 yards.

Colony answer North Pole's score with one of their own, a 19-yard off-tackle scamper by Murphy, and took the lead late in the first half on Truax's 11-yard pass to Ryan Rupe in the corner of the end zone.

The biggest play of the second half turned out to be the opening kickoff.

The Patriots surprised Colony with an onside kick, which, though it didn't go 10 yards, they appeared to recover after it was bobble by a Colony player.

But the refs called illegal touching on the Patriots, and Colony marched 49 yards for the score.

Contact staff writer Adam Raeder at 459-7583.

Colony 20, North Pole 7

Friday, North Pole High School

Colony 7 7 6 0 - 20

North Pole 7 0 0 0 - 7

First Quarter

North Pole - McCumby 51 pass from Wright (Ebanez kick), 10:10

Colony - J.Murphy 19 run (C. Murphy kick), 6:44

Second Quarter

Colony - Rupe 11 pass from Truax (C. Murphy kick), 3:31

Third Quarter

Colony - Bellote 13 pass from Truax (kick failed), 7:10

Col NP

First downs 13 7

Rushes-yards 42-163 21-82

Passing yards 71 98

Return yards 27 128

Comp-Att-Int 7-15-1 6-15-0

Punts 4-34.5 2-31.5

Fumbles-Lost 2-0 5-3

Penalties-Yards 10-80 8-70

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Colony, J. Murphy 31-140; Truax 6-13; Mouton1-9; Paoletti 1-4; Team 3-(-3). North Pole, McCormick 17-92; Wright 3-0; Ebanez 1-(-10).

PASSING - Colony, Truax 7-15-1-71. North Pole, Wright 6-15-0-98.

RECEIVING - Colony, Rupe 3-31; C. Murphy 1-16; Bellote 1-13; Jaronik 1-6; j. Murphy 1-5. North Pole, McCumby 3-84; Ebanez 3-44.