Valley Christian beats Benjamin Franklin 42-14 to win their last regular season home game to head into playoffs.
Senior Night
Preceding the final home football game, the senior athletes from all fall sports were recognized as it was senior night for Trojan Athletics. Football, Spiritline, Swim & Dive, and Cross Country, as well as our Pep Band seniors, were all celebrated. Volleyball had their own time of recognition at their last home game earlier in the week.
The football team honored its 15 seniors, who are very talented and have done many great things for the glory of God during their time here at Valley. These senior football players enjoyed this special moment and were ready to start the game off strong for their senior night! Regarding senior night, quarterback Gunnar Link said, "it was a very fun and exciting game to play. I feel like our team finally clicked all together that night. It was a special night for the seniors to win."
This game was also very special as the theme for the game was a "Pink Out" to support Breast Cancer Awareness that is traditionally recognized in October. The football players asked StuCo to change the theme to pink because they wanted to show their support for their loved ones who have battled or are currently battling cancer. Reflecting on the Breast Cancer Awareness game, senior AJ Zvada stated, "we asked to switch the theme because we had players' families who had battled breast cancer and thought it would be a good idea to bring awareness to it". The Trojan community rallied around them in their pink attire and parents even provided banners for each member of the Trojan football and spiritline community who had battled breast cancer.
Game Recap
In the first quarter of the game against the Benjamin Franklin Chargers, Link passed 25 yards to senior tight end Caleb Lewis, scoring the first touchdown of the game. The defense during this game was on fire, in the first possession of the game the Trojans forced a turnover on fourth down and took over on their own 35. The first quarter ended with Link passing to sophomore wide receiver Asher Hanzal for a 28-yard touchdown, ending with a score in favor of the Trojans, 14-0.
During the second quarter the Chargers put their first points on the board, but after a lot of back-and-forth drives, Link found senior wide receiver Will Bastian for 39 yards. He followed it up by finding Hanzal over the middle for a 15-yard touchdown, increasing their lead to 21-7 with 3:42 left in the half. After one more Benjamin Franklin score, the Trojans went into halftime leading the Chargers 21-14.
The Chargers got the ball to start the third quarter, but junior defensive back Ethan Gomez intercepted the ball and the Trojans took over at their own 45. Valley was stopped and turned the ball over on downs, but immediately got another interception courtesy of senior defensive back Vince Robles, keeping the score 21-14 at the end of third quarter.
Valley Christian held strong during fourth quarter, forcing a turnover on downs form their own one. They then drove 99 yards and scored! Link found Lewis on a 52-yard swing pass for a touchdown, widening the gap to 28-14. Play continued with junior linebacker Luke Snyder intercepting the ball and returning it all the way to the eight-yard line. Then Link connected with Hanzal on an out route for an 8-yard touchdown! The Trojans ended the game with a victory and a final score of 42-14. Caleb Lewis reflected on this win, "it was a hard-fought win. We made a couple of mental mistakes that we know we can clean up. I trust my guys and coaches and our future will be determined by us and our physicality. All glory to God!"
The Valley Christian Trojans ended the regular season with a 9-1 record and won their region heading into the playoffs!
Community, Senior Led Worship Night, and a Radio Show
After the game a few of the football players had a station for kids, friends, and families where they could come meet the team and get a signed football card! This is a special tradition Valley Christian does after the last regular season home game and was followed up with a senior led worship night. The senior football players requested earlier in the year to have a night of worship after their senior night game to end the night off worshiping God with their peers. About 150 students stuck around after the game and it was a special moment where they worshiped together, played a video of seniors talking about how God has been working in their lives, and the senior football players led the group in prayer. Here is a quick video clip of senior Vince Robles leading the student body in prayer at the end of the night: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vc_mw3RDLJE
Senior leader Gunnar Link and Head Coach Jake Petersen were then invited the next day to be interviewed by the NFHS network in order to recap how the regular season had gone so far and what their expectations as they headed into playoffs. You can watch the full interview here: https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/azpreps365/evt42c62c61c7
