PALMER -- Colony began the football season with a tough loss to Dimond, and the Knights were determined not to let the season end the same way.
Colony accomplished its mission Friday by rolling for 367 yards rushing and beating the visiting Lynx 27-14 in the first round of the large schools playoffs.
The win was Colony's seventh straight and sets up a showdown next week with the winner of today's quarterfinal between Palmer and Service.
Colony coach Brian McIntosh said losing two nonconference games to start the season got his team motivated, and the Knights have been making big plays ever since.
"This is a tight-knit group," McIntosh said. "They keep taking it on the chin and keep coming back."
Colony (7-2) dominated most of Friday's game and was especially tough in the second half, but Dimond caused McIntosh some worry.
Colony quarterback Payton McCann, who scored his team's first touchdown on an 8-yard run in the first quarter, fumbled on the Dimond 20 in the second quarter. When Dimond's J.J. Jack-Nixon scooped up the ball and returned it 80 yards a 7-7 tie, the game started to look eerily similar to the season opener, a game in which the Knights dominated every phase of the game, but gave up big plays and big turnovers to help Dimond seize an 18-12 overtime victory.
McIntosh, who watched film from the first game against Dimond on Thursday night, said the play brought back bad memories.
"Not again," he said he was thinking during Jack-Nixon's return. "I was looking for laundry real quick."
No penalty was called, however, and the tying touchdown stood.
On the next drive, Anthony Bricker relieved McCann at quarterback and proceeded to rack up 105 rushing yards before halftime, including a 64-yard scamper that set up Skye Rench for a 3-yard touchdown run and gave Colony a 20-7 lead at the half.
Bricker took a hard hit toward the end of the first half and did not return in the second half. He said he was fine, having only had the wind knocked out of him, but McCann played quarterback for the entire second half.
McCann ran the offense well enough to engineer a touchdown drive in the middle of the third quarter. Rench capped the drive with his third touchdown, a 14-yard sprint up the middle of the field, giving Colony a 27-7 lead.
Colony linebacker Kenyon Depriest sealed the Knights' victory when he tackled Dimond running back Armani Tufaga on a fourth-and-goal play on the Knights' 2-yard line with about three minutes to go in the fourth quarter. Dimond was trailing by two scores at the time and only had one timeout remaining.
Depriest said he wasn't worried after the big fumble return in the first half.
"People slip up. It happens," he said. "It's hard to stop us, and I knew we would come through."
Dimond quarterback Dwayne Carter, who made his first start since an injury sidelined him last month, said he was still playing with a little pain in his shoulder.
"Adrenaline pushes you through it," he said.
Carter said the biggest difference between Friday's game and the season opener was the slow start for the Lynx.
"I didn't get a big run at the beginning of the game like last time," he said.
For Carter, a senior, Friday marked the final game of his high school football career, but for Dimond's Chris Borst, it was the end of his first season as a head coach.
Borst said he has had a fun season and is proud of his team, but it is always tough to lose.
"The finality is always the hard part," he said. "It will take us a while to remember the good stuff."
Find Jeremy Peters online at adn.com/contact/jpeters or call 257-4335.
ASAA/First National Bank Alaska
State Football Championships
Large-Schools Quarterfinals
Dimond 0 7 7 0 -- 14
Colony 7 13 7 0 -- 27
First Quarter
Colony -- McCann 8 run (Weihs kick), 5:47.
Second Quarter
Dimond -- Jack-Nixon 80 fumble return (Thomas kick), 8:52.
Colony -- Rench 5 run (kick failed), 7:20.
Colony -- Rench 3 run (Weihs kick), 3:09.
Third Quarter
Colony -- Rench 14 run (Weihs kick), 4:56.
Dimond -- Jules 4 run (Thomas kick), 2:45.
Dimond Colony
First downs 12 19
Rushes-yards 30-157 48-367
Passing yards 108 19
Return yards 28 18
Passes 7-12-1 3-5-0
Punts 3-29.0 1-49.0
Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-1
Penalties-yards 11-68 7-51
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Dimond: Afusia 10-69, Tufaga 8-49, Carter 9-28, Jules 3-11. Colony: Rench 24-134, Bricker 5-105, McCann 17-87, Wainwright 3-41.
PASSING -- Dimond: Carter 7-12-108-1. Colony: McCann 2-4-19-0, Bricker 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING -- Dimond: Afusia 3-68, Jack-Nixon 3-36, Tufaga 1-5. Colony: Foster 1-15, Weihs 1-4.
By JEREMY PETERS
jpeters@adn.com