Rivals meet tonight at PHS

PALMER — Tonight’s Valley showdown between the Palmer Moose and the Colony Knights features a pair of teams at opposite ends of the state’s overall standings.

Palmer (5-1 overall, 2-0 in the Railbelt Conference) is tied for the best overall record in the large-schools class. Colony (1-5, 1-1) has had the chance to celebrate victory only once this season. But Palmer head coach Rod Christiansen knows the Moose can’t focus on Colony’s record.

“They have probably played the toughest schedule,” Christiansen said of the Knights. “The teams they’ve played have won a lot. They’ve played very good teams, playoff teams.”

Of Colony’s five losses, four have come to teams that have already clinched a postseason berth (Service, Soldotna, North Pole and Juneau-Douglas). Service (Cook Inlet), Soldotna (Northern Lights) and Juneau (Southeast) are all in the running to win their respective conference title. Five of Colony’s six opponents have been ranked in the top 5 of the Alaska Sports Broadcasting Network large-schools or medium-schools poll the week they played Colony.

But Christiansen still sees Colony as a dangerous team.

“They score a lot of points,” Christiansen said of a Knights offense that’s averaged 25 points per game this season.

Colony senior quarterback Bryce Niver is currently second in the state with 1,056 yards passing and 12 touchdowns. He’s also rushed for a team-high 390 yards and six scores. Senior wide receiver Daniel Bilafer leads the state with 36 catches and is second with 424 yards. The Knights will have to work without senior Antonio Bush (30 catches, 333 yards, eight touchdowns), who was lost for the season due to injury prior to a loss to North Pole last week.

But more than anything, despite a 1-5 record, Colony still has plenty to play for.

“They’re still in the race,” Christiansen said of the Knights, who are third in the Railbelt with the 1-1 record.

The top 3 teams in the Railbelt advance to the postseason.

Palmer could clinch its second straight Railbelt Conference championship with a win over Colony tonight. Palmer, which suffered its lone loss of the season to Woodinville (Wash.), is undefeated against Alaska teams this year, and is 14-1 against teams from the 49th state since 2012.

Coming off a key 42-19 win over Lathrop, Christiansen said the key for the Moose is to simply keep improving.

“Our message is let’s work on getting better doing what we do well,” Christiansen said.

Palmer boasts the conference’s best defense, allowing a Railbelt-low 14.6 points per game. Take away the 42 Woodinville scored against the Moose, and Palmer is allowing a mere 9.2 points per game against Alaska competition.

Palmer also has one of the state’s top rushing offenses. Senior James Nisbett returned from injury to run for 213 yards and three scores during the win over Lathrop last week. Nisbett now leads all large-schools rushers with 629 yards. Senior Vincent Aumavae has 353 yards on the ground.

Houston at Kodiak

Like Colony, it’s been a tough season for the Houston Hawks (2-4, 1-2). But also like the Knights, Houston is still in position to compete for a playoff spot, despite its sub-.500 record.

Houston is currently tied with Kodiak for third place in the Northern Lights Conference with a 1-2 mark. The NLC foes meet Saturday at 2 p.m. in Kodiak.

The Hawks cap the regular season at home against Homer (1-3) Oct. 5.

Juneau-Douglas at Wasilla

Wasilla (3-3 overall, 1-2 Railbelt) continues a stretch against nonconference opponents, facing medium-schools Juneau-Douglas tonight at 7 p.m. at Wasilla High’s Veterans Memorial Field.

The teams are former Railbelt Conference rivals. Juneau (5-1) left the Railbelt to join the medium-schools Southeast Conference during the offseason.

Wasilla improved to 3-3 with a 49-6 win over Houston at Houston High School last week. Devin Otto rushed for 153 yards and three scores against the Hawks, and is now ranked among the state’s top large-schools rushers with 562 yards and 10 touchdowns. Senior Josiah Williams completed 12 passes for 215 yards, and connected with seniors Cash McGregor and Isaiah Dawkins on touchdown scores.