Northwest Christian held Peoria scoreless through three quarters and jumped ahead early to help it reel in a 41-6 region home win Friday.

Bring on long-time rival Yuma Catholic, which Northwest Christian will play on Friday with first place at stake in the 4A West Valley Region. Northwest Christian senior Ashton Kamp stepped in at quarterback two weeks ago after Judah Huisman’s season ending knee injury.

But moving from wide receiver to quarterback is familiar territory for Kamp, Northwest Christian’s signal caller during the second half of last season. He looked at home when Kamp threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Nathan Johannes for Northwest Christian’s first points.

Kamp’s defense then stepped up when Peoria had good field position after a big punt return from Sebastian Carrillo.But two plays later, Marshall Gillette grabbed his first of two picks for touchdowns.

“When you make mistakes against a good team like that they will capitalize on that and put our team in a whole,” said Peoria coach Jason Golden about Gillette’s first half scoring interceptions.

Northwest Christian held a comfortable 31-0 lead at halftime, but the disciplined team is trained to keep working regardless of the score, Kamp said.

Kamp's squad didn't allow Peoria to score until six minutes were left in the game. Peoria started a couple of new players against a team Golden described as very physical.

“I was proud of our guys,” Golden said. “We had JV guys that stepped in and did well and didn’t quit.”

Three freshmen were on the field for Peoria (3-4, 0-2) as well, including quarterback Dominic Kramer.

One of those freshmen, Javon Bell, rushed for 64 yards on 12 carries. Former starting quarterback Josh Holliday, who suffered a concussion earlier this season, led Peoria Friday with 86 receiving yards.

Golden said to allow Holliday to adjust he was moved to wide receiver. But after the two Friday takeaways he was asked to return to quarterback.

“Josh is a really good captain and teammate, and when we asked him to go to wide receiver he was supportive of our freshman,” Golden said.

When Holiday stepped back in at quarterback the energy of his team picked up, something Golden attributed to his leadership.

David Inness, Northwest Christian’s coach, said his team needed this win and praised his boys for playing really well right now. Sixteen underclassmen played Friday for Northwest Christian (5-2, 1-0).

Inness said fitness and something else is benefitting his group against 4A teams with size and speed.

“No one is selfish out here, because we don’t have time to be selfish,” he explained.