Facing a 13-point deficit with nine minutes left and backed up in their own end of the field, the Colony Knights rode the accurate arm and elusive legs of quarterback Briellyn Parrent to a 26-20 comeback victory over West in flag football action Tuesday at the Eagles’ Nest.

Parrent accounted for 209 yards through the air on 13-of-23 passing, along with 131 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, as she outdueled West’s Grace Howes in a battle of two of the state’s top signal callers.

Howes finished with 328 yards passing as she led the Eagles to 20 straight points to start the second half, overcoming a 7-0 halftime deficit.

Colony took the early lead when Emily Atkinson’s 50-yard punt return set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Parrent, and multiple sacks by Atkinson helped secure the first-half shutout.

West got on the board just two plays into the second half when receiver Nina Geist caught a pass in the flat and outraced her defender down the sideline for an 86-yard score. It was the first of three highlight-reel plays by Geist, who had three catches for 174 yards after halftime.

West took its first lead with 2:30 left in the third quarter when Howes connected with Cormare Haltom over the middle for a 25-yard scoring pass to go up 12-7, and the Eagles regained possession when Mia Bradford-Williams made a pull on a fourth-down play.

Howes connected with Geist again, hooking up 59 yards on a crossing pattern at the 9:06 mark of the fourth quarter. A two-point conversion from Howes to Zeninah Tufue made it 20-7 and had the West sideline celebrating, but the game would be tied just two minutes and 34 seconds later.

Colony’s surge started with a two-play, 86-yard lightning strike of a drive. Parrent hit a 35-yard connection down the middle to Ella Richardson, then scrambled 51 yards for a touchdown, probably covering more like 75 yards as she weaved through the West defense.

After forcing three straight incompletions, the Knights used a nifty punt return from Rhianna Helmericks to set up shop at the Eagles’ 20, where Parrent would run it in one play later. Colony’s conversion attempt failed, however, leaving the score at 20-20.

The difference in the game came down to two big plays – this time on defense – from Parrent and Richardson. Deep in their own territory with five minutes left, the Eagles got another huge pass play to Geist, who sprinted down the middle and seemed just about to break away for a touchdown before Parrent lunged and snatched her flag at the 50. On the next play, Richardson stepped in front of a West receiver for an interception, setting up the Knights for the game-winning drive.

Parrent used an 18-yard strike to Morgan Gallagher to get to the West 25 and rushed twice to get inside the 10, before hitting Richardson on the numbers as she streaked across the goal line with 64 seconds remaining.

Howes, who completed 19 of 39 passes with three touchdowns, got the Eagles to their own 32 yard line but no farther, seeing her last three attempts fall incomplete.

Parrent also added two first-half interceptions on defense and accounted for 100 percent of Colony’s offense, earning her rushing total on just nine carries.

Richardson made a game-high nine catches for 168 yards, hauling in four passes of at least 30 yards. Gallagher had three catches for 40 yards.

Georgia Rexford-Brown had 45 yards receiving on a team-high five receptions for West, while Tufue had four catches for 25 yards.

Colony 7 0 0 19 – 26
West Anchorage 0 0 12 8 – 20
FIRST QUARTER
Colony – Parrent 4 run (Parrent 1-pt run) 3:59
SECOND QUARTER
No scoring
THIRD QUARTER
West – Geist 86 pass from Howes (pass failed) 11:14
West – Haltom 25 pass from Howes (pass failed) 2:30
FOURTH QUARTER
West – Geist 59 pass from Howes (Tufue 2-pt pass from Howes) 9:06
Colony – Parrent 51 run (Richardson 1-pt pass from Parren) 8:20
Colony – Parrent 20 run (pass failed) 6:32
Colony – Richardson 7 pass from Parrent (pass failed) 1:04
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
Colony: Parrent 9-131. West: Howes 7-22, Geist 2-18, Myles 2-6, Bradford-Williams 2-1.
PASSING
Colony: Parrent 13-23-209. West: Howes 19-39-328.
RECEIVING
Colony: Richardson 9-168, Gallagher 3-40, Clark 1-1. West: Rexford-Brown 5-45, Tufue 4-25, Geist 3-174, Haltom 3-44, Kross 3-39, Myles 1-1.