In the midst of a runaway score, there are still some big moments that swing the outcome.

Noah Lewis had two plays in the second quarter that spurred Valley Christian to a 43-14 win Friday at Crismon in a 3A Metro game.

Sure the offensive line cleared the way for dual 100-yard games by Dandre Dickerson Jr. and Austin Schuder, but don't overlook Lewis’ impact on the win for the Trojans (4-1, 1-0).

The senior had an interception on Crismon's second drive and on the ensuing drive, Lewis adjusted his inside route to the ball thrown to the outside to convert a third down.

Two plays later, Schuder went 66 yard for the score and a 15-0 lead.

“You have to be ready to make plays like that,” Lewis said of the catch. “The route was across the middle, but I had to adjust and make the catch. I love making third down catches. Someone has to step up to keep the drive going and we needed that one.”

Valley Christian, which only had two full drives in the first half, opened the third quarter with a 60-yard scoring drive that was finished off with a 8-yard TD catch by Lewis.

“He can make plays, and he’s shown that in the past on the lower levels,” Valley Christian coach Jake Petersen said. “Noah has amazing athleticism and really good ball skills. He had good players in front of him at wide receiver (before this season) but he's coming into his own.”

The win started with a goal-line stand by the defense to open the game despite being on the field for more than nine minutes as players like Corben Cecil, Andre Bruchette and Lane Russell made an impact.

“We had some guys from the offensive line playing defense to give us some extra beef,” Petersen said. “They might been have been exhausted but they got the stop and then went 98 yards the other way. That was huge.”

The score grew to 36-7 at the start of the fourth and the Trojans could start thinking about hosting 3A state runner-up next week.

The home game against the Ben Franklin will test the depth of Valley Christan, which lost in the state semifinals last year, after several players came off the bench when a late hit on a punt led to a bit of a skirmish against Crismon.

“It’s a rivalry the last three years,” Petersen said of the game against Ben Franklin. “It’s going to be a big test and we’ll be ready to play.”

Crismon started the game well despite losing senior athlete Cameron Pope, a two-way player, and the Rattlers were also down a starter among the offensive line.

The Rattlers (4-1) opened with an impressive nine-minute drive, including two fourth down conversions, but came away with no points after a dropped ball in the end zone on fourth down.

“Not scoring there definitely hurt us,” Crismon coach Scott Hare said. “We did a good job that first drive, but they punched us in the mouth. They obviously outcoached us. Their scheme tonight was better than my scheme. Their team did a really great job.”

After that defense couldn't get off the field, but the offense scored twice with backup quarterback Braxton Thill, who was the starter last year but gave way to Louis Ruesing this year.

“I told Louie that Braxton was going to see time – good or bad – at some point,” Crismon coach Scott Hare said. “It will probably be the case the rest of the year. Louie has been phenomenal and standing on top of his head. Braxton showed what he could do last year. Their both going to play.

"I don’t know in what fashion and they both give us a little something different.”

As far as the adversity, losing the two starters, and their first game of the year, the Rattlers will be ready for what lies ahead.

“We’ve dealt with adversity before,” senior fullback Gracen Ruiz said. “I’m not happy we lost, but we can learn from it and get better because of it. We’ll come together and play as brothers.”

The Rattlers are growing and learning as a program in Hare’s second year and this loss was another experience to move forward from as the season progresses.

“We’ve had a good start to the season, but I knew at some point were going to run into something,” Crismon coach Scott Hare said. “I think we just read too many of our press clippings and thought we were good but what have we actually done to earn that yet?

“Tonight, they just punched us in the face and knocked us out.”

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