West beat host Colony 7-6 in a rain-soaked, muddy battle, thanks to an 83-yard pass from Conor Feckley to Dahmir Bell and a stout defense that gave up 19 rushing yards in the second half.
With the Eagles trailing by six with just over five minutes left in the first half, Feckley dropped back and heaved the ball about 30 yards down the left sideline to a well- covered Bell. Bell and his defender both left their feet to grab the ball, but Bell came down with it as the defender slipped to the ground. Bell's reward for the catch was a wide open lane to the end zone.
"I focused in on it and went up and snagged it," Bell said.
Tom Troxel's extra point gave West a one-point lead and the defense did the rest, shutting down a Colony team that started the game strong.
Colony kept the ball deep in West territory for the entire first quarter. With less than a minute to go in the quarter, quarterback Mitchell Slater flipped a clever shovel pass to Skye Rench, waiting underneath the defense at the line of scrimmage. The Eagles defense was caught off guard and Rench scampered for a 45-yard score. A bad snap on the point-after attempt resulted in a failed run by Slater and a 6-0 lead.
Rench, who rushed for 52 yards on 22 carries, said the shovel pass is new to the Knights' playbook this season. They used the new play again for a 27-yard gain in the second quarter, accounting for Colony's two biggest plays of the game.
In the second half, Colony tried the shovel pass two more times, but both resulted in negative yardage. Rench said the West defenders were ready and waiting for him each time.
The same could be said for just about every play the Knights ran in the second half. The closest the Knights came to taking the lead was after they recovered a West fumble on the Eagles' 17-yard line. After two rushes that netted 1 yard, the Knights bobbled the next handoff and fumbled the ball back to West.
West was unable to mount much of an offensive charge, either. The Eagles managed one running play of more than 5 yards in the second half, and despite leading, they continued to throw the ball from a shotgun formation. The Eagles made 25 pass attempts and 24 rushing attempts.
With three minutes remaining in the game, and West deep in Colony territory, Feckley threw a pass to the left flat that nearly resulted in his third interception of the game. Had the Colony defender been able to keep his hands on the ball, he would have almost certainly scored a touchdown.
West head coach Tim Davis said the passing game is the Eagles' primary weapon and, rain or not, they will throw the ball.
Davis said it all comes down to execution, and the Eagles will not blame bad weather for bad play.
"It was an ugly game," he said. "It was as gutsy as it gets."
Find Jeremy Peters online at adn.com/contact/jpeters or call 257-4335.
West \t0 \t7 \t0 \t0 -- 7
Colony \t6 \t0 \t0 \t0 -- 6
First Quarter
Colony -- Rench 45 pass from Slater (run failed), :53.
Second Quarter
West -- Bell 83 from Feckley (Troxel kick), 5:18.
West Colony
First downs 8 9
Rushes-yards 24-63 39-91
Passing yards 162 133
Passes 10-25-2 15-25-0
Punts 2-15.5 1-11
Fumbles-lost 4-3 4-2
Penalties-yards 7-55 1-5
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- West: Holtman 16-54, Feckley 6-10, Dion 2-(-1). Colony: Rench 22-52, Slater 13-22, Wainwright 3-14, Monson 1-3.
PASSING -- West: Feckley 10-25-2--162. Colony: Slater 15-25-0--133.
RECEIVING -- West: Bell 6-118, Brown 1-15, Lawrence 1-13, Dion 1-11, Holtman 1-5. Colony: Rench 6-69, Bricker 5-24, Weihs 2-27, DePriest 2-13.
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