NORTH HILLS — In the 36th playing of the Bible Bowl, Village Christian ran for 298 yards as it defeated Heritage Christian 36-21 in an Ironwood League opener for both teams.
The victory marked the Crusaders’ 20th win in the series and their fourth in a row against their rivals.
The Mathis brothers led the way for Village Christian. Quarterback Everson Mathis finished with 27 carries for 150 yards and two rushing touchdowns and completed 6 of his 15 passes for 143 yards with three touchdown passes and two interceptions. Younger brother Preston Mathis had three interceptions on defense and two receiving touchdowns.
“It was a great team win, we centered this week around our whys and why we do this,” Preston Mathis said. “It was all for each other and we continued to fight and came out with the win.”
The Crusaders’ defense was strong, holding Heritage Christian (4-2, 0-1) to only 160 total yards and one rushing yard on 10 attempts. It also forced five turnovers, including the three interceptions from Preston Mathis, with the other two coming on an interception by Evan Gonzalez and a fumble recovered by Jonathan Faller that was forced by Daniel Adelson.
Village Christian’s first score came on a 40-yard touchdown run from Todd McNair to tie the game at 7. McNair had to leave the game in the first half with an injury and was replaced by DJ Deranja. Village Christian came into the game already without starting running back Donovan Howard.
Village Christian (2-4, 1-0) was able to take an 18-7 halftime lead after the Mathis brothers connected on a 26-yard touchdown pass and Everson Mathis found Andrew Perez on a 26-yard scoring strike. Heritage Christian’s lone score in the first half came on its first possession when Jack Mackler connected with Tyrique McVay on a 24-yard touchdown pass.
Heritage Christian was able to cut the lead to 24-21 after three quarters as Village Christian struggled with turnovers and was losing the field-position battle with starting kicker Danny Franco out with an injury.
After Everson Mathis opened the second-half scoring with his first touchdown run of the night from two yards out, Heritage Christian’s Dominic Simon snagged an interception and returned it 70 yards for a touchdown.
Heritage Christian was able to cut the lead to three late in the third quarter on Hudson Gerhardt’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Jakob Christian.
Village Christian was able to close out the game with two touchdowns from the Mathis brothers. The first came after a 13-play drive that was capped off by a two-yard touchdown run from Everson Mathis. The final score came on a 36-yard touchdown pass between the Mathis brothers.
Preston Mathis’ third interception also came on the final play of the game.
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“I’m proud of our kids, proud of the team,” Village Christian coach Richard Broussard said. “We had to establish the run, our O-line had been going against some formidable fronts and starting to master the concepts better, so this felt the right week to push the rock.”
Deranja ran the ball 17 times for 65 yards for Village Christian and McNair had 10 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown.
Village Christian will take on Capistrano Valley Christian on the road next week. Heritage Christian will look for its first league win next week when it plays Ontario Christian.