Northwest Christian and Yuma Catholic are an even 5-5 against one another since October of 2015, but not for long. The Northwest Christian Crusaders will be playing at home against the Yuma Catholic Shamrocks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Arizona (Northwest Christian is ranked 34th, while Yuma Catholic is ranked 24th).
After a string of eight wins, Northwest Christian's good fortune finally ran out on Friday. They fell 27-20 to Thunderbird. The match was a 10-10 toss-up at halftime, but Northwest Christian was outscored by Thunderbird in the second.
Meanwhile, Yuma Catholic stacked a fifth blowout onto their ever-increasing hoard on Friday. They blew past Lake Havasu 41-17. The victory was just business as usual for Yuma Catholic, who after nine games remain undefeated this season.
Yuma Catholic's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Tayt Ford led the charge by rushing for 129 yards on only 11 carries, while also picking up 33 receiving yards. Ford is on a roll when it comes to rushing yards, as he's now rushed for 100 or more in the last three games he's played. Another player making a difference was Nash Ott, who threw for 273 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 12.4 yards per attempt.
Northwest Christian's loss dropped their record down to 8-1. As for Yuma Catholic, their win was their fourth straight at home, bumping their overall record up to 9-0.
Northwest Christian won a match that couldn't have been any closer in their previous matchup back in October of 2022, slipping by Yuma Catholic 31-30. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Yuma Catholic's Richard Stallworth, who threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns while completing 79.4% of his passes. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be that much easier for Northwest Christian to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
