Northwest Christian was methodical offensively pretty much all game Friday night against Yuma Catholic in a battle between the top two teams in the current 2A power-point rankings.

Through the first 47 minutes of the game, methodical earned Northwest Christian seven points. So with time running out the Crusaders turned to desperation mode. It worked to perfection.

Quarterback Orbi Gonzales hit wide out James Mossbrucker in stride for an 82-yard touchdown pass on a third-and 20 play with 45 seconds left to play to give the Crusaders a 14-10 triumph over the Shamrocks before a huge homecoming crowd at Northwest.

"There wasn't much time," Mossbrucker, a sophomore said. "The play call was Red 54. That's a seam rout straight down the field. When I caught it, I just told myself to run as fast as I could."

Mossbrucker hauled in the pass from Gonzales at about midfield and sprinted the rest of the way. He had beaten Yuma Catholic's cornerback on the play. The Shamrock's safety in coverage on the play took a bad angle trying to break up the pass. That freed Mossbrucker for the heart-racing finish to a hard-fought defensive struggle.

Up until  the 82-yard TD strike,  Northwest Christian had run 32 plays in the second half that totaled 88 yards.

Gonzales, who had passed for a modest 736 yards coming in to the game, completed 8-of-12 passes for 132 yards. He's now thrown nine TD passes and just one interception.

"Our game plan was to keep the ball away from them, keep them from having 60 plays," Northwest Christian coach Dave Inness said. "We did that and it almost didn't work...."

It was a decent night for Northwest Christian's standout running back Casey Jahn. The junior who eclipsed the school career rushing record last week in a win over Valley Christian, carried 32 times for 126 yards. Jahn ws the focus of the Crusaders offense in the second half and his workhorse night led to two long drives that ended up in Yuma Catholic territory (a punt and missed field goal).

Yuma Catholic (7-1) entered the game averaging 425 yards on offense. The Shamrocks finished with 205 total yards. They had two three-and-outs in a scoreless first quarter, scored all 10 of their points in the second period with their touchdown set up by a 58-yard run by Chris Hill. A 32-yard field goal by Kody King on the final play of the first half gave the Shamrocks the lead they held until the game's final minute.

"I thought our defense handled Jahn very well," Yuma Catholic coach Rhett Stallworth said. "We knew concenrating on stopping him would allow more time for them to throw...

"The pass they win the game on, the law of averages it's about a 1-in-90 shot, but it worked."