Ball bounces Faith Lutheran’s way
Sometimes the bounce of the ball is all that it takes to change a game.
On Friday, a bounce put the ball in the hands of Faith Lutheran linebacker Alex Giuliani, and his momentum-changing, 88-yard fumble return turned things around for the Crusaders as they knocked off host Spring Valley, 17-8, to close out the regular season.
“It was huge,” Giuliani said. “It was nothing I did; I just thank God for the ball falling in my hands and the rest was instinct.”
The Crusaders (6-3, 5-2 I-A Sunset League) led 7-0, but Spring Valley had little trouble driving inside the Faith Lutheran 20, and appeared poised to tie the game.
But on first-and-10 from the 15, quarterback Christian Tasi fumbled. Giuliani scooped it up and went 88 yards for the score.
“It was huge to be able to convert turnovers and turn that into the momentum swing,” Faith Lutheran coach Vernon Fox said. “We’ve been on the other end of that. Earlier this year, there was a game vs. Clark where we had multiple turnovers and we never could really recover. So we preach to our guys to never give up, to absolutely fight, and they did it tonight.
“There was a point where that game could have changed and they rebounded and just pulled themselves out of the hole.”
The win gave the Crusaders the Sunset League title outright. Four teams entered the night tied at 4-2, but Clark topped Cheyenne and Pahrump Valley beat Sierra Vista to leave Faith Lutheran alone at the top. A loss could have eliminated Faith Lutheran from the postseason.
“We just worked as hard as we could this week in practice knowing that nothing’s guaranteed,” Giuliani said. “Coach Fox pushed us, believed in us, and we believed in ourselves and just played Faith Lutheran football.”
Five teams tied for second at 4-3. After the tiebreakers, Sierra Vista earned the league’s No. 2 seed with Cheyenne No. 3 and Spring Valley No. 4. Mojave and Clark ended up on the outside looking in.
Faith Lutheran’s best offensive drive came on the opening drive of the game. The Crusaders marched 62 yards on 11 plays capped by a 10-yard touchdown pass from Greg Benson to Mark Rubalcaba with 6:27 to go in the first quarter.
Benson completed six of eight passes for 54 yards on the drive, including four to Rubalcaba for 37 yards.
“That’s a tone setter,” Fox said. “And that’s something that early in the year we were inconsistent at, and that’s starting fast. The guys were able to do that tonight. I think we had them on their heels a little bit.”
Faith Lutheran’s other score came on a 31-yard field goal by Ryan Callen with 6:10 to go in the third quarter. On third-and-12 from the Spring Valley 14, Faith Lutheran was called for a personal foul. But instead of taking the penalty and pushing the Crusaders out of field goal range, Spring Valley declined, setting up Callen’s kick which gave Faith Lutheran a 17-0 advantage.
A fumble by Faith Lutheran’s Christian Marshall on the first play of the fourth quarter set up Spring Valley’s only scoring drive. Marcus Dawson recovered the ball, and the Grizzlies drove 50 yards on six plays, all runs, capped by a 17-yard TD run by Raheem Edmonds with 9:22 to play.
Michael Bianco rushed for 117 yards to lead the Grizzlies (5-4, 4-3).
Benson was 16-for-26 for 164 yards. Rubalcaba had 10 catches for 128 yards, and Marshall rushed for 93 yards, 84 of them in the second half for Faith Lutheran, which has won five straight.
“We’re hitting our peak at the right time,” said Giuliani, who recovered another fumble with 44 seconds left to seal it. “The sky’s the limit for us, I think.
Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587. Follow him on Twitter: @DamonSeiters.
