JDHS takes big lead early on Colony mistakes, holds on for 41-27 road win

Mark Sabbatini

Sep 11

6 min read

Updated: Sep 13

Crimson Bears senior QB Krew Ridle again has a big game rushing and scoring; Knights rally to tie game in third quarter, but lose momentum in final minutes

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears face off against Colony High School at Pride Field in Palmer on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026. (Screenshot from Juneau Football livestream)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

The Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears jumped out to a 27-7 second-quarter lead, aided by mistakes by Colony High School on its home field, then withstood a rally by the Knights to earn a 41-27 victory Friday night that improved their record to 4-1 this season.

JDHS senior quarterback Krew Ridle, selected Alaska Athlete of the Week for a record-setting performance by rushing for 237 yards and six touchdowns last week, had another big game by rushing for 177 yards and five touchdowns. The final two touchdowns came after Colony (3-2) tied the game at 27-27, with Ridle running for a 27-yard score and then most of the yards on a final drive to put the game away for the Crimson Bears.

"You couldn't ask for a better start in the game, and then it became this other game where we started stumbling a little bit offensively and defensively, and all of a sudden they clawed their way back into it," JDHS Head Coach Rich Sjoroos said after the game. "And that's where I got super proud because part three was when we got off the mat there, and dominated the fourth quarter and closed it out. And I just couldn't be more proud of how we finished that one."

Juneau’s defense stiffled Colony’s running attack during most of the game, but struggled at times when the Knights took to the air in a spread formation. However, a series of early mistakes by the home team allowed the visiting Crimson Bears to get a huge early edge at Pride Field in Palmer.

JDHS, after returning the opening kickoff to its 39-yard line, marched steadily down the field on a series of runs that was aided greatly by two 15-yard facemask penalties. One kept the drive alive after Ridle was stopped for a two-yard loss on a third-and-4 at the Colony 44-yard line, the other gave the Bears a first-and-goal at the Colony 7-yard line. Ridle scored from the 1-yard line three plays later.

Juneau got the ball back quickly when Colony, after returning the kickoff to its 42-yard line, fumbled on its second play from scrimmage, a completed pass where the receiver lost the ball at the Juneau 47-yard line. But the Crimson Bears went three-and-out, punting to the Colony 15-yard line.

Colony tied the score two plays later on an 86-yard run down the right sideline with 2:23 left in the first quarter.

Disaster turned into opportunity on the Crimson Bears’ next possession when Ridle threw an interception at midfield that was returned for a Colony touchdown — but the score was negated by a roughing the passer penalty. Ridle a few plays later hit junior running back Sylvion Washington on a pass to the Colony 26-yard line and the quarterback scored on a tackle-breaking run the next play to put Juneau ahead 14-7 with 10 minutes left in the first half.

The Knights fumbled the ensuing kickoff, giving the Crimson Bears the ball at the Colony 37-yard line. Another personal foul penalty on the Knights put the ball at the 17-yard line, with Ridle then running for 15 yards on the next play and then scoring from the 2-yard line with 8:29 remaining in the half. A failed conversion made the score 20-7.

Another Colony mistake occurred on its next play from scrimmage as JDHS senior Ethan Van Kirk intercepted a pass at the Knights’ 46-yard line and returned it for a touchdown to make the score 27-7 with 8:13 left in the second quarter.

The Knights, with a long pass, got to the Juneau 39-yard line on their next possession, but was forced to punt with about five minutes left in the half when the drive stalled. Juneau punted the ball back a few minutes later, with Colony returning the ball to its own 47-yard line.

From there the Knights struck quickly in a spread formation, hitting four passes in six plays, including an 11-yard touchdown pass with 43 seconds left, to make the score 27-14 at halftime.

"That's fine — to have a two-score lead on the road is great," Sjoroos said.

But that success in the passing game carried over to Colony’s first possession of the third quarter, moving from its own 44-yard line to the Juneau 14-yard line with three passes, the last of which was accompanied by a facemask penalty. The Knights scored on the next play with a 7-yard run to make the score 27-21 Juneau with 10:06 left in the third quarter.

The Crimson Bears were unable to respond in kind as Ridle, after hitting Van Kirk for a 12-yard gain to near midfield, was sacked for a 16-yard loss on third-and-8, forcing Juneau to punt.

Colony scored five plays later on a 39-yard run, but missed the extra point, leaving the score tied 27-27 with 4:07 left in the third quarter.

"They just took it up right where they left off (at halftime) and marched down the field and scored again, and so it's 27-21, and then we can't really move the ball again, and we gave them good field position for three drives in a row, and they just took advantage of that," Sjoroos said.

Juneau had Ridle run the ball four straight times on the next possession, advancing the ball to the Colony 43-yard line, but on third-and-8 an attempted flea-flicker resulted in another sack for a loss of 14 yards.

An exchange of punts turned fortune back in Juneau’s favor, with a long kick by the Crimson Bears pinning the Knights on their 20-yard line. A three-and-out for Colony was followed by a partially blocked punt, giving Juneau the ball back on the Knights’ 33-yard line.

"That's finally the first time since the second quarter that they had not favorable field position and we were able to clamp down defensively," Sjoroos said.

Three runs left the Crimson Bears facing a fourth-and-4. Ridle took the next snap and ran for a 27-yard touchdown to make the score 34-27 with 9:41 left in the game.

That’s when Colony’s engine ran out of steam. After an 11-yard pass got the Knights close to midfield, they punted after losing six yards on two running plays and only getting four of them back on a third-down pass.

Juneau took over and, with Ridle doing most of the work on the ground, scored again with 2:32 left to take a 41-27 lead.

The Knights’ last gasp ended when a pass on second down to a wide-open receiver downfield was overthrown, and an attempted reverse flea flicker on the next play resulted in a fumble recovered by Colony for a seven-yard loss. A fourth-down pass fell incomplete with 1:36 remaining and the Crimson Bears ran out the clock.

Sjoroos said he opted to keep having Ridle call his own number with running plays toward the end because it was working when there were struggles with some other play calls.

"We definitely will be a better team if we can get more guys involved," Sjoroos said. "We keep continuing to try to do that, having Sylvion with the big catch and even on a couple misdirection runs and trying to get Jaxin (Jim) going up the middle and trying to do a flea flicker down the field, but it didn't convert. We're trying some things, but sometimes you just got to move the sticks and sometimes it's better just to run behind that O-line when they're clicking, and there's a reason why that single wing's been kind of hard to stop for some teams."

The Crimson Bears’ next game is at home at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, against West Anchorage High School (4-1). The Eagles have three shutout wins this year, including a 20-0 victory over Service High School the same night Juneau beat Colony.

"I think a lot of people peg them as the top dogs in the state and it’s hard to argue that," Sjoroos said. "They’ve been defensively especially really stingy in Alaska, and so I’ve got to try and come up with a good game plan and I’m glad that game's at home."

GAME SUMMARY (Statistics provided by Alaska Sports Report)

Juneau-Douglas 7 20 0 14 – 41

Colony 7 7 13 0 – 27

FIRST QUARTER

Juneau – Ridle 1 run (Mazon kick), 7:15

Colony – Forsyth 86 run (Figgins kick), 2:23

SECOND QUARTER

Juneau – Ridle 26 run (Mazon kick), 10:06

Juneau – Ridle 2 run (kick missed), 8:29

Juneau – Van Kirk 46 interception return (Mazon kick), 8:13

Colony – Broeder 9 pass from Lott (Figgins kick), 0:43

THIRD QUARTER