Sam Ganczaruk

West Valley Preps

The anticipation leading up to the early season matchup between Northwest Christian and Yuma Catholic lived up to the hype, as the rivals battled as if it was a November playoff game.

Despite the calendar not turned to September yet, the 3A powerhouses possibly gave fans a sneak peek at a state finals-level game Saturday as visiting Yuma Catholic held on to outduel Northwest Christian, 36-30.

“I thought both teams got after each other,” Northwest Christian coach Dave Inness said. “We never talked about winning them all. I don’t worry about these guys, we are going to get better.”

Program history would indicate that Northwest Christian (1-1) will evolve and polish some of the untimely mistakes it made to dig itself a 36-23 deficit with 9:36 left. But to the Crusaders credit, they never stopped believing.

Northwest Christian started on its own 20 and completed a 16-play, 80-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run from senior Dusty Inness to cut the lead to 36-30 with 4:58 left.

After a failed onside kick, the Shamrocks (2-0) intended to burn some clock. Yuma Catholic handed the ball off to star running back Ean Chavez but he was stymied twice. Facing a third-and-3, Yuma Catholic let the play clock expire, resulting in a 5-yard penalty.

On the next play, a toss to Chavez lost two yards and the Shamrocks punted the ball away with 2:46 remaining.

“We should have sustained that last drive though, to run some clock out but we weren’t able to and had to give them the ball back,” Yuma Catholic coach Rhett Stallworth said. “I’ve made that drive (back to Yuma) after losing in the last 10 seconds here. It’s a tough drive but it was two good teams hooking up and going to battle on Saturday.”

Northwest Christian had found success running the ball with senior Aren Van Hofwegen between the tackles but with the time ticking away the Crusaders looked to junior quarterback Jonathan Metzger to lead a game-winning drive.

Three completed passes later, Northwest Christian had reached its own 44 when Inness called timeout with 1:53 left.

“I thought we were going to win the game,” Inness said.

The Crusaders broke the huddle with the perfect play call, a stop and go route that Metzger laid out for Jordan Ehlers, who had gotten behind the Yuma Catholic secondary, but the senior couldn’t corral the pass.

“That was a heavyweight fight,” Inness said. “These guys are hurt because we came in thinking we would win. You know what, we have to clean up some stuff but I really like my group.”

Three incomplete passes and a holding penalty later, Northwest Christian was faced with a fourth-and-18 from the Shamrocks' 44 but couldn’t convert as a pass from Metzget to Van Hofwegen only yielded 15 yards.

Van Hofwegen finished with 158 yards rushing on 19 carries. The senior standout also caught a 37-yard touchdowns pass to open the game's scoring.

Metzger finished 13-of-24 for 169 yards including a 21-yard touchdown pass to Brady Wijbrandts in the second quarter to tie the game 14-14.

“It would be nice to see them again in the finals but there is a lot of season left and you have to stay healthy,” Stallworth said.

Northwest Christian senior tailback Aren Van Hofwegen tries to regain his balance as he turns the corner on the Yuma Catholic defense Aug, 25 at Northwest Christian School in Phoenix. YUMA CATHOLIC 36  NORTHWEST CHRISTIAN 30

Yuma Catholic 6 15 7 8 - 36

Northwest Christian 7 7 9 7 - 30

NC – Aren Van Hofwegen 37 pass from Jonathan Metzger (Jacob Johnson kick)

YC – John Henderson 53 pass from Gage Reese (Kick failed)

YC – Henderson 18 pass from Reese (Henderson pass from Reese)

NC – Brady Wijbrandts 21 pass from Metzger (Johnson kick)

YC – Ean Chavez 11 run (Jesus Zamudio kick)

NC – Johnson 21 FG

YC – Ean Chavez 65 run (Zamudio kick)

NC – Metzger 2 run (Pass failed)

YC – Ean Chavez 13 pass from Reese (Randal Voutt pass from Reese)

NC – Dusty Inness 4 run (Johnson kick)