St. Mary's Defense Prevails in 10-9 Win Over Northwest Christian

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The St. Mary’s Knights defeated the Northwest Christian Crusaders 10-9 to snap a two-game losing streak.

St. Mary’s head coach Jose Lucero admitted that the 4A Skyline region is a gauntlet, so any win you can get in it is a good one.

“We’re in the middle of a gauntlet,” Lucero said. “Any win you can get in this region is an important one.”

Opening up the game, St. Mary’s would start with the ball and begin to march down the field.

On the first drive, the Knights went to 2027 running back Branson Brown early and often.

During the drive, Brown broke free for a 15-yard run on 4th down to set his offense up deep into Northwest Christian territory.

Ultimately, the Knights had to settle for a field goal after failing to find the end zone.

2028 kicker Hector Lepur III drilled a 33-yard field goal to put the first points of the game on the board.

Similar to the Knights, Northwest Christian opened up the game by moving the ball down the field efficiently.

The Crusaders, however, faced a fourth down deep into St. Mary’s territory and opted to go for it.

The attempt would fall short as the Knights' defense came through with a stop to force the turnover on downs.

Fast-forwarding to the middle of the second quarter, the Knights added to their lead.

The Knights put together their best drive of the first half to score the first touchdown of the game.

After eventually getting near the goal line, 2027 wide receiver Anthony Cannon was able to scamper into the end zone for an 8-yard score.

Needing to find an answer quickly after trailing 10-0, the Crusaders rattled off nine unanswered points to round out the first half.

The following drive for the Crusaders saw 2027 athlete Conner Main move the chains for his offense.

Main used his legs and arm to get the Crusaders down the field and into scoring position.

Capping off the drive was 2027 running back Timmy Sands, who powered his way up the middle of the field for an 8-yard touchdown.

With only 50 seconds left in the half, the Knights had a chance to get back down the field and add to their lead.

The opposite would end up happening for them after a mishap on special teams.

During a punt attempt for the Knights, the snap flew over the head of the punter, and the ball rolled into the back of the end zone for a safety, giving the Crusaders two points.

Heading into halftime, St. Mary’s led 10-9.

The second half would see a defensive bout between both teams.

Early in the third quarter, both programs would exchange interceptions.

For Northwest Christian, snagging the interception was Main, who made a diving grab to come away with the takeaway.

The momentum was short-lived, however, as on the very next play 2027 defensive back Billy Lewis came down with an interception of his own.

Throughout the second half, it was Northwest Christian who seemingly couldn’t get out of their own way.

As the third quarter dwindled, the Crusaders almost took their first lead of the game.

That hope came up short, though, as the Knights' defense came away with another takeaway.

Preventing the Crusaders from scoring was 2028 linebacker Edwin Barraza, who forced a fumble near the goal line to give his offense the ball back.

Just like Northwest Christian, though, the Knights couldn't get out of their own way and struggled to put up any more points in the game.

The struggles on offense wouldn’t matter, though, as the Knights rounded out the fourth quarter with a few more key plays on the defensive side.

In the middle of the fourth quarter, Lewis was able to snag his second interception of the game.

Lewis said the mindset of the team Thursday night was to bend, don’t break.

“Bend, don’t break,” Lewis said. “We were put in tough positions. We made great adjustments at halftime. We executed them.”

With only a few minutes left in the contest, the Crusaders found themselves with the ball once more and a chance to go down the field to win the game.

However, just like they did for all 48 minutes of the game, the Knights' defense prevailed.

The Knights forced the Crusaders into a tough fourth down with a minute left in the game.

2028 defensive back Levi Christiansen came through on the fourth down and got a pass breakup to seal the victory for the Knights.

St. Mary’s now moves to 6-2 on the season and has their first region win under their belts.

The next step for the Knights is to find consistency as they head into these last few weeks of the regular season.

“It’s about developing consistency week to week,” Lucero said. “We still haven’t played our best football game. We’re sitting at 6-2 right now; we still gotta a lot of good football to play ahead of us.”

Next up: 6-2 St. Mary’s looks to get another region win when they take on 4-4 Paradise Honors. 6-2 Northwest Christian looks to get back in the win column when they take on 5-2 Peoria.