Pilcher-Colbert accounts for 7 touchdowns, including Houdini-like escape on TD run

September 27, 2021

Qyntyn Pilcher-Colbert

For as good as Qyntyn Pilcher-Colbert was in the pocket for Sierra College, the quarterback from Anchorage was even better in the open field.

Houdini in cleats, he proved to be quite the escape artist on his 21-yard touchdown run after staying on his feet after it looked like he was tackled.

The sensational scoring run summed up his unbelievable day as the sophomore signal caller finished with seven TDs in one of the most prolific scoring performances by a college football player from Alaska.

Pilcher-Colbert completed 10 passes – six of them for scores of 56, 3, 14, 13, 32 and 5 yards to lead Sierra to a 63-37 victory over San Joaquin Delta in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.

“I absolutely have to give my O-line a shout-out for keeping me clean the entire game,” he said. “Zero sacks. That’s a quarterback’s dream.”

He finished with 203 passing yards and a career-high 105 rushing yards in a Lamar Jackson-like performance.

Pilcher-Colbert’s touchdown run was a thing of beauty as he raced up the right side of the field before cutting back at the 10-yard line to avoid a defender, who appeared to have wrapped him up while another defender crashed in from behind.

He looked down. Even on video, he looked down.

But Pilcher-Colbert somehow stayed on his feet and waltzed into the end zone, leaving defenders dumbfounded.

“On my way to the ground I felt my body kinda summersault but I didn’t feel my legs hit the ground, so I knew I was still upright,” he said. “We practiced great habits and I finished through the end zone.”

Cue ESPN’s classic ‘SportsCenter’ jingle ‘da da da, da da da.’ It was that good.

Pilcher-Colbert, of West High fame, added another run of 34 yards. This was his best rushing game since he had 86 yards and a pair of touchdowns as a freshman in 2019.

No matter, what though, his 21-yard now-you-see-me, now-you-don’t touchdown run will go down as all-time highlight.

Pilcher-Colbert credited head coach Ben Noonan, who doubles as the team’s quarterbacks coach.

“After watching film on our last game, Coach Noonan put an emphasis on our lack of finishing plays,” the QB said. “All week he stood at the end zone and every time we touched the ball in any drill, he made us score.”