Held in check by Juneau’s defense for most of the game, Colony quarterback Jack Nash’s final move was check mate.
The junior signal caller Friday night ended a dream season with a storybook ending, scoring the game-winning touchdown on a 10-yard run with 17 seconds left to lift Colony to a 14-7 win over Juneau in the ASAA Division I First National Bowl at Service High.
Nash accounted for all 76 yards in the 3-minute, 13-second drive that supplied the Knights with their first state championship since the school opened in 1989.
“Trust my legs, trust my first instinct,” he said of his mindset on that game-winning drive.
Colony’s Jack Nash was carried off the field on the shoulders of his teammates. Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report
Nash finished with two TDs and 293 total yards, 153 on the ground and 140 through the air. He also threw a 49-yard scoring strike to Jayce Underwood in the first quarter, their 11th TD connection in 11 games.
Nash generated more passing yards with that one throw than he produced in the entire game (35) in his first meeting with Juneau in Week 4 when he was held to a season-low 96 total yards.
“I told Jayce to skinny it up because I saw that the safety was playing a little closer in,” Nash said. “I saw him deep, looked off the other safety and threw it; and I know he’s fast enough to go get it.”
Colony’s Jayce Underwood. Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report
Nash combined for 125 yards on two scoring drives compared to 172 yards on his team’s other six possessions. He struggled early with two turnovers, fumbling in the first quarter and throwing an interception in the second quarter.
“I have to keep a short memory,” he said. “I made some silly mistakes in the first half, but I pushed through it and got it done.”
When the ‘ship and the chips on the line, Nash was money.
He delivered like has all season, piloting a 10-play game-winning drive with 48 passing and 28 rushing yards. Both of his big pass plays went to Cole Hamilton, including a 13-yarder over the middle on his final completion that moved Nash into third place on Colony’s all-time passing list with 1,305 yards.
COLONY PASSING LEADERS
1,977 – Rob Lorentz 2012
1,914 – Jared Boyd 1999
1,305 – Jack Nash 2022
1,282 – Jared Boyd 1998
1,147 – Rhett Magner 2004
Nash finished the season with a state-best 37 TDs and 2,651 total yards.
For comparison, 2019 Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year Jace Henry of Lathrop had 37 TDs and 2,869 total yards and 2021 player of the year Kyler Johnson of East amassed 36 TDs and 2,521 yards.
HAMILTON DRAWS UP WINNING PLAY
Tight end Cole Hamilton isn’t an offensive coordinator, but he played one in Friday’s state championship game.
Hamilton drew up the play that resulted in Jack Nash’s game-winning TD run from the 10-yard line.
“He said he could block the dude on the left and we trusted it,” Nash said. “He made a great block and it was wide open, so props to him.”
Colony’s sideline erupts after taking a 14-7 lead with 17 seconds left. Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report
“Communication is a huge thing with this team,” Nash added. “We like to hear other people’s perspective on the game and what they see out there. We trusted him and that’s exactly what happened. We have trust in each other.”
Nash finished the season with 1,351 rushing yards – the most for a Colony player since 2006 when Chebon Jimenez had 1,685.
UNDERWOOD PLAYS UNSUNG HERO
Colony’s Jayce Underwood was everywhere on offense – catching a TD, running for a first down and attempting a pass.
He also made the play of the game on defense, stuffing Juneau’s 1,400-yard rusher Jarrell Williams at the 2-yard line on fourth down.
Underwood actually made back-to-back tackles in the red zone near the end of the second quarter on Williams, who led the state with 20 rushing touchdowns.
Juneau’s Jarrell Williams. Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report
Williams is a powerful, hard-nosed runner who hasn’t been easy to grapple to the ground this year. However, Underwood became ‘The Undertaker’ and wrestled him down on consecutive plays.
First, he stuffed Williams for a loss near the goal line on a run to the right side; then he stopped him on fourth down at the 2-yard line on a run to the left.
“Jayce played one heck of a game,” Nash said. “It’s a huge team effort. We couldn’t have done it without him, the line or Cole, or anybody on this team.”
Underwood finished with 81 total yards and looked for more when he threw the ball off an end-around option play in the final seconds before halftime. The pass was on the money but incomplete after Juneau’s Payton Grant knocked it away.
JAMAL JOHNSON JOINS 1K CLUB
It’s hard enough to get one running back to eclipse the 1,000-yard benchmark, let alone two.
But that’s what Juneau did.
Jamal Johnson ran for 132 yards to help him finish the season with 1,071 yards, overtaking Service’s RJ Fine for fourth place in the state’s final D1 rushing rankings.
Teammate Jarrell Williams was held to a season-low 52 yards on 22 carries but finished second in the state behind Bartlett’s Niko Alailefaleula for Alaska’s D1 rushing title.
YARD BARKERS
1,615 – Niko Alailefaleula, Bartlett
1,424 – Jarrell Williams, Juneau
1,351 – Jack Nash, Colony
1,071 – Jamal Johnson, Juneau
1,059 – RJ Fine, Service