NWC comes up big for coach’s birthday

After an even first half, Northwest Christian outscored Colfax 27-0 in the second half for a 41-14 Northeast 2B football win Friday night on the red turf at Eastern Washington’s Roos Field.

The Crusaders came up with several huge plays that broke the game open and gave the ultimate birthday gift to coach Jim Nendel, who turned 55.

“We are living on big plays,” Nendel said. “That’s what we are trying to do.”

At least for a night, mission accomplished.

The biggest play of the night came in the first quarter after Colfax had jumped out to a 6-0 lead on a 21-yard keeper by quarterback Keith Gfeller.

On the next possession, Northwest Christian’s David Olds somehow eluded a sack. He looked up to see Joey Biel running alone. Olds put the ball on the money and Biel scored from 84 yards out.

“Joey ran a good route,” Olds said. “I just tried to get him the ball. He did the rest.”

On several occasions, the defense appeared to have stopped Olds only to watch him elude a tackle and create yards with a pass or run.

“Olds made plays when he needed to,” Colfax coach Mike Morgan said. “That’s what he does. It was a fine game by Northwest Christian.”

Colfax lost senior running back Cody Fulfs, who appeared to hurt an ankle on a wicked tackle early in the game. But Morgan said that wasn’t the difference in the game.

“They outworked us upfront,” he said. “We’ll go back and regroup.”

Colfax (2-2) made it a game in the first half and led 14-7 after Gfeller threw a pass to Tobie Warwick. After the catch, Warwick broke a tackle and scored from 27 yards out.

The Crusaders (3-1) again marched down the field and Olds hit Ryan Ricks, who made a one-handed circus catch before scoring from 19 yards out to tie the game before halftime.

The second half was all Crusaders.

Silas Perreiah broke open for a 30-yard TD run, Nathan Sander caught a 38-yard TD pass from Olds, and Perreiah did it again when he ran untouched for 67 yards late in the third quarter.

“The heavens opened up and I just had to walk in,” Perreiah said. “The line was opening holes all night. It was all the line.”

The final score came on a 57-yard scamper, again by Sander, with 5:02 remaining in the game.

“Our kids spent a lot of time working out in the summer,” Nendel said. “In the third and fourth quarters, it allows us to pull away.”