With a playoff game on the line, Faith Lutheran rose to the challenge on Friday. In a tight matchup that could have gone either way, they made off with a 35-34 win over the Shadow Ridge Mustangs. The victory was just business as usual for the Crusaders, who after 11 games remain undefeated this season.
Alexander Rogers was his usual excellent self, throwing for 295 yards and three touchdowns while completing 73.1% of his passes, and also rushing for 63 yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. A healthy portion of Rogers' aerial production (144 yards to be exact) went to Rouselle Shepard, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
Faith Lutheran wouldn't let Shadow Ridge keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. It was truly a group effort as Cole Keith, Matthew Mason, and Patrick Duffy picked up one apiece. Duffy also set a new season high mark in total tackles with 16. Ricky Manning was another major factor on D, making 14 total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Despite the loss, Shadow Ridge still got an impressive performance from Trevin Young, who rushed for 214 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 carries. Young also deserves a shoutout for his performance on D, making six total tackles and defending a pass. Tyrell Craven also helped out as he racked up 141 rushing yards.
Faith Lutheran's win was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-0. Those good results were due in large part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 12.1 points per game. As for Shadow Ridge, with the loss, they broke their five-game winning streak and moved their record to 9-4.
Faith Lutheran will square off against Bishop Manogue at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. One thing working in Bishop Manogue's favor is that they have posted at least 31 points in their last six contests. Shadow Ridge does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
