No. 3 Faith Lutheran stays perfect, shuts down Green Valley — PHOTOS
Faith Lutheran’s football team scored through the air, on the ground and via special teams in the first half against Green Valley.
With how dominant the Crusaders’ defense was Friday night, it was fitting that they helped put some points on the board.
Faith Lutheran’s defensive line swarmed Green Valley quarterback Michael Lewis late in the second quarter and forced an intentional grounding that resulted in a safety.
That capped off a dominant first half for Faith Lutheran’s defense to help the Crusaders, No. 3 in the Review-Journal’s Class 5A rankings, remain perfect with a 35-7 road victory at No. 6 Green Valley.
With the win, Faith Lutheran (8-0, 5-0 Class 5A Division II Southern League) secured the regular-season league title, the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the Southern League playoffs.
“They’ve just improved every week, and they’re gaining confidence,” Faith Lutheran coach Mike Sanford said of his defense. “They kind of have a little bit of a swagger, but it’s the right kind of swagger. There’s a fake kind of swagger, but they have a real swagger that’s based on positive results.”
Faith Lutheran’s defense held Green Valley (5-3, 3-2) to 43 yards of offense in the first half and held the Gators to just one first down, which came late in the second quarter. The Crusaders limited Green Valley to 16 rushing yards.
“We feel like we could have played better, but we still got the win,” said senior linebacker Ricky Manning III, who had three sacks and a tackle for loss. “We have stuff and areas to improve upon. The game plan was to stop the run, and we did that.”
One of Manning’s sacks came right before halftime with Green Valley driving. The Gators converted on a Lewis 15-yard pass to Theodore Edquilang with less than 30 seconds before halftime. But Manning sacked Lewis for a loss of more than 15 yards and helped the Crusaders hold their 19-0 lead into halftime.
“My D-line was confusing them a little bit to get them to think I was going to go one way, but I go the other way,” Manning said. “It was a team effort for the sacks, it wasn’t just me.”
Faith Lutheran’s offense capitalized with several big plays in the second half. Quarterback Alex Rogers found running back Cale Breslin on a screen pass, and the BYU commit raced home for a 22-yard score. Liam Radke made a 29-yard field goal to put the Crusaders ahead 28-0 going into the fourth quarter.
Green Valley managed to get on the board on a 74-yard pass from Lewis to Trey Glasper early in the fourth quarter. Faith Lutheran responded on its ensuing drive when Rogers connected with Aipa Kuloloia for a 52-yard score for the Crusaders’ final points.
Rogers completed 9 of 19 passes for 219 yards and three touchdowns, and Breslin racked up 89 rushing yards with a score and a touchdown catch. Kuloloia had 92 receiving yards, and both of his catches went for touchdowns.
Kuloloia has “improved each week, and he’s become a down-the-field threat,” Sanford said. “We have a really good intermediate pass game. Every once in a while we’re able to make a big play over the top because of our intermediate passing game.”
Rogers hit Kuloloia on a 40-yard touchdown pass to take a 7-0 lead on Faith Lutheran’s second play of its opening drive. Radke added a 22-yard field goal, and Faith Lutheran’s defense didn’t give up a first down to give the Crusaders a 10-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
A short Green Valley punt early in the second quarter gave Faith Lutheran a short field. Rogers hit Jack Brascia on a 35-yard pass, and two plays later, Breslin scored on a 6-yard touchdown run.
Maddox Valoaga added four tackles for loss on defense for Faith Lutheran, and Patrick Duffy had a tackle for loss and blocked a punt.
Valoaga and Manning “are excellent players, and they’ve been getting better as the season’s gone on,” Sanford said. “Ricky had an audience tonight. His dad (Raiders cornerback coach Ricky Manning Jr.) was here, and (Raiders assistant head coach) Marvin Lewis was here. He put on a show for them.”
Lewis completed 11 of 24 passes for 160 yards for the Gators. Glasper had 106 receiving yards on five catches and added a tackle for loss and an interception on defense.
Faith Lutheran hosts Palo Verde at 7 p.m. Thursday to close out the regular season, and Green Valley hosts Silverado at 6 p.m. Thursday. All games next week will be played on Thursday because of the Nevada Day holiday.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.