Brennan Bucher is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover St. Mary's High School for AZPreps365.com

PHOENIX – A barn-burner full of turnovers resulted in a 10-9 win for St. Mary's over Northwest Christian on Thursday night. 

The Knights (6-2, 1-2 4A Skyline) started the day with a field goal on their first drive, and little would they realize how big those three points would be, with neither team scoring in the second half. 

But it wasn’t the offense that stole the show. St. Mary’s defense forced four turnovers, two of which were interceptions that came from senior defensive back Billy Lewis.

“I just need to make a play,” Lewis said. “Defense had to step up.” 

Head coach Jose Lucero said Lewis’ role goes beyond a great defender but one of a leader for the Knights. 

“He’s such a high-character kid,” Lucero said. “He's our leader through and through, and it's no shock that he's the guy making the play. He prepares. He's ready for the moment.”

St. Mary’s defense limited the Crusaders (6-2, 2-1 4A Skyline) to just seven offensive points, and forced three turnovers on downs. While Northwest Christian racked up 11 first downs and drove the ball down the field several times, it always seemed as though the St. Mary’s defense made a play when it needed to. 

“It was so great to see our defense step up and make some plays in key moments,” Lucero said. “It’s a team game, right? It takes all of us, and those guys stepped up big tonight.” 

While the scoreboard might not reflect it, the St. Mary’s Knights ran the ball well. 

Senior running back Branson Brown accounted for 141 yards on 27 attempts. Those 5.2 yards per carry were hard-fought.

“He’s our workhorse, man,” Lucero said. “He runs hard, and does everything we ask him to do.”

Against Northwest Christian the Knights asked him to do everything as the sole St. Mary’s touchdown came from the Wildcat formation, where Brown handed the ball off to senior Anthony Cannon from 8 yards out. 

There was one more motivating factor for the Knights. It had been four years since they last beat Northwest Christian. 

“It feels great,” Brown said. “Nothing better than winning a game we haven’t won in four years against a very good team.” 

It was senior night, and the celebration of the day was more than just a win with flowers for senior Billy Lewis. Lewis started each of the last three losing contests for the Knights. 

“It meant so much,” Lewis said. “Me being 0-3 against them, haven’t gotten a single win, meant the world to me to get that win.”

In the previous two games the Knights lost, they scored an average of 38.5 points. 

“Honestly, our region, I would say, is the hardest region,” Brown said of the 4A Skyline. “Every game, every team is going to be a dogfight.” 

Lucero said the quality of play is less important than the number in the left hand side of the record. 

“We still have a lot of good football to play,” Lucero said. 

Their next matchup is next Friday against Paradise Honors. It will be homecoming for the Knights.