OLYMPIC LEAGUE : Valley Christian Holds Off Calvary Chapel to Win, 27-14

Cerritos Valley Christian dominated Calvary Chapel for three quarters and withstood a fourth-quarter rally to post a 27-14 victory in the Olympic League opener for both teams.

Valley Christian (6-0, 1-0 in league) took a 21-0 lead behind a pair of Rick Jones touchdown runs and a five-yard scoring pass from Jeremy DeBie to Alan Schmidt. Calvary Chapel (3-3, 0-1) cut the lead to 21-7 when Dane Valdez returned the kickoff following Schmidt’s touchdown 100 yards with 58 seconds left in the half.

The Crusader defense held Calvary Chapel to minus-1 yard of total offense in the first half. The Eagles, playing in their first Olympic League game after moving from the Arrowhead League, were plagued by poor field position and recorded only two first downs in the half.

Calvary Chapel cut the Crusaders’ lead to 21-14 with 3:53 to play as Chris Tuidosega scored on a two-yard run. The Eagles got the ball back with just under two minutes to play and drove to the Valley Christian 37-yard line before Valley Christian’s Brett DeBie intercepted a tipped pass and returned it 69 yards for a touchdown to clinch the victory with 57 seconds to play.

Jones led all rushers with 203 yards and two touchdowns in 28 carries. Valley Christian’s defense held Matt Kellogg, Calvary Chapel’s leading rusher, to nine yards in 12 carries.