On a Friday night when the Colony football team's offense couldn't measure up, the Knights cemented their 24-12 nonconference road victory over South with a measurement that stretched their defense's way.
Colony coach Rhett Magner pronounced that game-clinching moment fitting: "Our defense is saving us – period.''
South, out of timeouts and trailing 24-12, faced fourth-and-2 from the Colony 5-yard line with 1 minute, 20 seconds remaining. A reasonable scenario gave the winless Wolverines hope: Get a first down, quickly punch in a touchdown, recover an onside kick, and who knows?
South's Evan Benedict plunged into the line, where he was stopped by Colony's Alex Alvarado and Cade Havel. Officials called for a measurement. The chains were brought onto the turf at Anchorage Football Stadium and stretched – and the links extended a couple feet past the nose of the football.
"For the first couple seconds, I was kind of scared,'' Alvarado said of the measurement, "and then I could see it wasn't enough. The ref said, 'It's just for the drama. You'll understand when you're older.' ''
All that remained for the Knights (3-2) was for quarterback Steven Bilafer to twice take a knee and run out the clock while the Wolverines (0-5) were sportsmen and didn't engage for those two token downs.
"I believed in the defense,'' said Colony defensive back Caleb Bailey. "We had it. We've had several goal-line stands in our five games.''
Good thing, because special teams and defense delivered the Knights' third straight victory on an evening when their rushing and passing mustered just 118 yards total offense.
After South marched deep into Colony territory on the game's opening possession and settled for Jared Harjehausen's 41-yard field goal – Tyler Boyer's third-down sack for Colony forced the Wolverines to kick – the Knights answered with a lightning bolt. Jon Pomrenke took the ensuing kickoff up the left side, picked up blocks and raced 95 yards for a touchdown and a 7-3 Colony lead.
Two possessions later, South engineered another long drive, but nicked itself with a holding penalty and again settled, this time for Harjehausen's 37-yard field goal that trimmed the deficit to 7-6.
This time, the Knights answered with a 14-play drive – 10 rushing plays, four Bilafer completions on four attempts – that covered 80 yards and devoured 6:55 off the clock. Instead of a traditional quarterback sneak from the 1-yard line, which didn't work for Bilafer on second down, Bilafer on third down leaped up and extended the ball over the plane of the goal line for a 14-6 lead.
Just when it appeared that score would hold for halftime, with South facing third-and-26 from its own 37 and just 11 seconds left before the break, sophomore quarterback Jack Hanson threw a pass to the right side that Bailey snagged. Bailey returned the pick 43 yards for a 21-6 Knights lead.
"It surprised me as much as anyone,'' Bailey said. "But we're a team of big plays.''
In Colony's history, the flashiest of those plays have usually come from the offense – Rhett Magner, and before that his brother, Cole, reeled off many of them when their dad, Randy, was the Knights' head coach. This year, Rhett Magner said, defense and special teams have come up clutch.
Defending state large-school champion South, meanwhile, is a young team that has hampered itself with untimely penalties and turnovers. The Wolverines committed three of the latter Friday.
"We can't catch a break,'' said South coach John Lewis. "But the kids are fighting. They're not quitting.''
Even at 0-3 in the Cook Inlet Conference with three league games left, the Wolverines are mathematically alive for a playoff berth.
Colony is on a roll of sorts heading into a Railbelt Conference game next week at West Valley in Fairbanks, yet the Knights have kinks to conquer.
"Once again,'' Rhett Magner said, "special teams and defense kept us in the game. On offense, well, we've got some things to get figured out.''
In other action Friday, Soldotna extended its state-record winning streak to 34 with a 42-7 romp over Palmer in a Northern Lights Conference game in Palmer.
The Stars, 5-0 overall and 2-0 in conference, led 35-0 at the half and 42-0 before giving up any points to the Moose (3-2 overall, 1-1 conference).
West Valley trounced host Wasilla 54-7 in a Railbelt Conference game to move to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference. The Warriors are winless in five games and 0-2 in the Railbelt.
In the game of the night, North Pole outdueled Kodiak 52-48 in a nonconference game in Fairbanks.
North Pole's Dew Rogers scored four touchdowns in the shootout between the two medium-school teams. He twice sprinted 86 yards into the end zone for the Patriots of the Southeast Conference, who improved to 4-1 overall.
For Kodiak of the Northern Lights Conference, Andrew Carras passed for 327 yards and scored two touchdowns, including a 1-yard run with less than three minutes for the game's final points. The loss moved the Bears to 2-3 overall.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
Colony 7 14 3 0 -- 24
South 3 3 0 6 -- 12
First Quarter
South – Harjehausen 41 FG, 7:26.
Colony – Pomrenke 95 kickoff return (Boyer kick), 7:11.
Second Quarter
South – Harjehausen 37 FG, 11:23.
Colony – Bilafer 1 run (Krozel kick), 4:28.
Colony – Bailey 43 interception return (Krozel), :00.
Third Quarter
Colony – Ramos 26 FG, 6:04.
Fourth Quarter
South – Jarrell 43 run (pass failed), 9:21
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Colony: Havel 7-26, Nero 5-11, Nash 3-9, Pomrenke 0-0, Bilafer 18-(-5). South: Jarrell 3-50, Benedict 14-46, Kinnebrew 11-37, Stearns 3-7, Harjehausen 2-6, Stokes 1-1, Sizemore 0-0, Hanson 3-(-25).
PASSING – Colony: Bilafer 6-13-0--77. South: Hanson 7-12-2--75.
RECEIVING – Colony: Pomrenke 2-20, Nero 1-25, Nash 1-15, Havel 1-13, Boyer 1-4. South: Jarrell 3-54, Stokes 2-21, Harjehausen 1-0, Stearns 1-0.