C-Hawks Prove Too Much For Crusaders

Wildomar's cross-town football rivals Cornerstone Christian and Cal Lutheran were the matchup of the weekend, and neither team disappointed.

While the C-Hawks walked away with the win on home turf, 49-8, the game proved just how exciting eight-man football can be.

Coming into Saturday’s game, the Crusaders were 6-1 and ranked 18th in the state. The C-Hawks were ranked eighth.

After a 47-34 loss at Lancaster Baptist on Sept. 9, Crusader head coach Bill Jarvis’ young team was on a roll with week-after-week wins.

But as Saturday’s final score would indicate, the C-Hawks controlled the game from the first quarter, 16-0.  With another touchdown and a typical two-point conversion, Cal Lutheran went into its homecoming halftime festivities, 22-0.

The majority of the game’s scoring came in the third quarter with three more C-Hawk touchdowns to make it 46-0.  The Crusaders fought hard and played well but couldn’t get into the end zone until there was 1:11 remaining on the game clock.

"You know, for us we were finally healthy today and it showed,” Peter said. “We lost a senior lineman--possibly torn ligaments in the knee--and that was on the first defensive series.”

Peter and his coaching staff asked the team to stay disciplined and “…not to give up any big plays.”

“For the most part, we held them,” Peter said. “We'd like to get that touchdown back at the end and get a shutout, but you know what they were a better team tonight than they've shown in the last number of years, so it was a hard-fought game.”

Regarding the late Cornerstone score, Jarvis said, "It shows that we can finish, we just didn't do it early.

“We're going to be able to learn from this, that's the good thing,” Jarvis added.  “I didn't see anything that just completely concerned me, but I think it reminded our kids of what it was going to do to be battle-tested going into the playoffs.”

Peter said he was impressed with the play of two his seniors in particular, Jonny Woods and Ben Schober.  Woods kicked a field goal, played cornerback, safety and at linebacker. Equally versatile, Schober played defensive end, linebacker, safety and he also blocked a punt, running it back for a touchdown.

Woods accomplished something that hadn’t been seen in 15 years by the C-Hawks: With 6:28 left in the fourth quarter, he lined up and booted a 34-yard field goal for his team -- the first successful field goal made by a C-Hawk varsity player since 1996.

The Cal Lutheran offense was 7 of 9 on passing with 75 yards and two touchdowns. They had 34 rushing attempts for 350 yards, three touchdowns and one lost fumble.

Cornerstone’s offense was 3 of 14 on passing with 95 yards, three interceptions and a touchdown.  They had 26 rushing attempts for 136 yards and two fumbles.

Defensively, Cal Lutheran picked off three passes and had one blocked punt.

Following the win, the C-Hawks are now in second place in their Agape League with one game remaining and a 5-3 record (2-1 league).

The Crusaders are now tied for first place in their Majestic League standings, also with one game remaining and a 6-2 record (1-0 league).

Cal Lutheran will travel to Upland Christian Academy in Ranch Cucamonga this Friday for a 7 p.m. game.  Cornerstone Christian heads to Marywood-Palm Valley High School in Rancho Mirage Friday with a 3:30 p.m. kickoff.

This week’s games will be the final league games for the 2011 campaign. CIF playoff action begins Nov. 11 with pairings announced Nov. 6.