Prep football: Valley clash

PALMER — They don’t get much closer than this.

Quarterback Conrad Smith ran for two touchdowns and the Palmer defense forced three second-half Colony turnovers to lead the Moose to a dramatic 14-13 win over Colony Friday night at Machetanz Field in Palmer.

“This turns the whole season around,” Smith said moments after celebrating with his teammates at midfield.

Such a celebration looked unlikely early on. The Knights used a powerful first half running game to jump out to a 13-0 lead midway through the second quarter on the strength of touchdown runs by Jaron Murphy and Gino Paoletti.

Following Paoletti’s 29-yard touchdown scamper, the Moose blocked Tim Jaronik’s extra point try — a seemingly minor play that would later prove decisive.

After Colony’s second touchdown, the Moose put together an impressive 12-play, 70-yard drive that was kept alive by a costly fourth down pass interference call on the Knights. Four plays later, Smith followed the lead block of fullback Shannon Sawyer for a 4-yard score that cut the lead to 13-7.

Colony had one last chance to add some points at the end of the quarter, but Collin Murphy’s 40-yard field goal try fell short, leaving the Knights clinging to a six point lead at the break.

After allowing 163 rushing yards in the first half — including 86 from Jaron Murphy — Palmer’s defense stiffened in the third quarter, forcing the Knights to punt on the opening possession of the second half.

The Moose then marched deep into Colony territory, and nearly took the lead when Smith found running back Devin Konkler on a fourth down swing pass near the goal line. But Jaron Murphy rolled up from his safety spot at the last second, thwarting the Moose at the 2-yard-line and keeping the Colony lead intact with the biggest defensive play of the game.

One play later, Murphy was again at the center of a game-changing play — only this time, things went Palmer’s way.

The senior running back fumbled the hand-off from Collin Murphy — who entered the game as a replacement for injured quarterback Bradley Truax late in the first half — and Palmer’s Everest Moore fell on the ball at the goal line.

Smith plunged into the end zone on the next play, and Will Ott’s extra point gave Palmer a lead it would not relinquish.

“This feels so great right now,” Moore said following the win.

The senior tackle credited a lively halftime pep talk from the Palmer coaching staff with sending the Moose back onto the field with a “jacked up” frame of mind.

“We just wanted this bad,” he said.

Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen said he could see a big change in his players’ attitude after the half.

“They realized since we’re here, we might as well give it a shot,” Christiansen said.

The disastrous goal line fumble began a string of three consecutive drives that would end in turnovers for the Knights. Defensive back Mitch Swetzof made a diving pick of a Collin Murphy pass early in the fourth quarter, and Smith recovered a Jaron Murphy fumble midway through the period that allowed the Moose to kill more valuable time on the clock.

“If you get behind Palmer, they’re going to control the clock by running the ball,” Colony head coach Jamie Mayo said.

In a game where neither team showed much interest in throwing the ball, Palmer was able to grind the clock out in the second half behind an offensive line that seemed to gain confidence as the game wore on.

“Our leadership on the line, that was the big difference,” Smith said.

Smith led the Moose with 63 yards on 14 carries, while Konkler added 62 yards on 16 carries and Sawyer plowed his way to 45 yards on seven carries as Palmer ran its way to victory in the fourth quarter.

Colony was even better on the ground, getting a 30-carry, 163-yard performance from Murphy to out gain the Moose offensively. But the Knights couldn’t overcome several critical mistakes, including 12 penalties for 95 yards — the biggest being on a first-half illegal-man-downfield call that negated a touchdown pass from Truax to Jaronik.

Mayo acknowledged that too many “stupid penalties” proved costly for his team.

“The bottom line is our kids have got to keep their composure,” he said.

The Colony coach said he was happy with how his team was able to move the ball, especially in the first half, when the Knights were able to roll off big gains seemingly at will.

“As far as execution and intensity, it was there tonight,” he said.

Mayo said he felt his team could have easily had a bigger lead at the half, were it not for a couple big mistakes in crucial situations.

“But we’ll never know, because it didn’t happen,” he said.

Palmer improved to 2-3 overall, but moved into a second-place tie in the Railbelt Conference at 2-1 with the Knights, which dropped their second consecutive game after starting the season 3-0.

Christiansen said he’s hopeful the win enables his team to continue to improve following a shaky start that saw Palmer drop three of its first four games.

“Our players just have to believe in the system and keep getting better,” he said.

As for the Knights, Mayo said he still believes Colony can play with anyone, but said his team needs to get stronger mentally in order to find success.

“We’ve got to get these kids to realize there’s four quarters to a game, not one half,” he said. “We haven’t played a whole game yet this year.”

The road to the playoffs doesn’t get much easier for the Knights, who must travel to Juneau next week for a clash with the undefeated Crimson Bears in a game that could go a long way toward determining the Railbelt Conference championship.

The suddenly-resurgent Moose, meanwhile, will go for a second straight victory against the winless West Valley Wolfpack in Fairbanks.

MOOSE 14, KNIGHTS 13

Friday, Machetanz Field

Palmer 0 7 7 0 — 14

Colony 7 6 0 0 — 13

1st Quarter

Col — Murphy 1 run (Jaronik kick), :00

2nd Quarter

Col — Paoletti 29 run (kick blocked), 6:52

Pal — Smith 4 run (Ott kick), 1:33

3rd Quarter

Pal — Smith 1 run (Ott kick), 4:19

Pal Col

First downs 12 11

Rushes-yards 46-192 40-256

Passing yards 18 7

Return yards (Punt/Int) 15 0

Comp-att-int 2-5-1 2-9-1

Punts 2-31.5 2-35.0

Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-2

Penalties-yards 3-15 12-95

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Palmer: Smith 14-63, Konkler 16-62, Sawyer 7-45, Bohman 9-22. Colony: J. Murphy 30-163, Paoletti 4-62, Truax 2-21, Mouton 4-10.

PASSING — Palmer: Smith 2-5-1-18. Colony: C. Murphy 2-9-1-7.

RECEIVING — Palmer: Konkler 1-9, Draughon 1-9. Colony: Paoletti 1-5, Jaronik 1-2.