Twenty underclassmen started the game for the Northwest Christian High School Crusaders football team, including sophomore quarterback Blake Sparks.

The offensive line is entirely new this season.

So it’s not surprising that head coach David Inness said his team won’t look good at times at it matures. But what the Crusaders do will work, the coach added.

It did Friday night.

Despite a slow start, Austin Young was a demoralizing force against Valley Christian in Northwest Christian’s 17-10 home victory. Young was chewing small chunks of yardage and gave Northwest control of the game in the third quarter.

The first series for Northwest Christian in the third quarter proved to be key. Young ran the ball 11 times in that drive and a couple of big catches were made by Eddie Van Sant and Owen Arthurs, who is playing for the first time this season and a player to watch.

The drive ended when a red zone play brought in sophomore running back Grant Gibson, who changed the pace and found the end zone to take the 10-3 lead. He scored again in the 4th quarter inside the red zone to put the Crusaders up by 10.

“Young is a fall forward guy who is really strong, and he stepped up when Jacob Sherwood tore his meniscus before camp,” Inness said. “When you keep getting pounded by a 200-pound back and a quick guy comes in, it’s hard to stop them.”

But Valley Christian also has weapons.

With three minutes left in the game, Vinnie Lagatta drove the team into the red zone and scored. A big defensive stop by Jalen Collins on Young put the Crusaders on the 23-yard line, but a holding call negated the next play and forced a punt.

Valley Christian (4-1) had two minutes to get a score and had the ball on its own 46-yard line. But during the drive Lagatta was forced out of the pocket and was hit, and Gibson came up with the big interception to seal the win for 4-1 Northwest Christian.

“This is a wake-up call for us that we need to get in shape and prepare better and tackle lower,” Valley Christian senior safety Ben Somora said.

Head coach Kirk Sundberg said it was important to be in a game where his team was pushed to the limit, saying the experience is not something that can be manufactured. The team was in the red zone and held Northwest Christian to only 17 points, and those are positive takeaways.

“You hate to lose, but this is about building character through football and forming stronger, better and more faithful men,” he said.