The Northwest Christian Crusaders will take a long bus ride from Phoenix down to Yuma on Friday to compete in their yearly Class 3A non-region rivalry matchup with Yuma Catholic High School.

The Crusaders' coach, David Inness, said his team is not going to change the way it prepares for this game just because of the rivalry, but acknowledged the feel of the game is different.

“It’s crazy cause it’s three and a half hours away,” Inness said. “Any time we play Yuma Catholic since I’ve been here at Northwest it’s just unbelievable games between two great programs.”

The game has a special meaning to senior lineman Jaden Hoyt as it might be his last game against Yuma Catholic (3-1).

“The game is always intense and full of emotion,” Hoyt said. “Being able to go to their place and take a win for the last time would mean a lot to all of these seniors.”

It will not be an easy win for the Crusaders (3-1), as Yuma Catholic is coming off a 42-0 win over River Valley High School.

Inness agreed with the senior captain and said the Northwest defense will have its hands full with junior wide receiver John Henderson, who has 24 receptions for 470 yards and three touchdowns on the season.

“Henderson kid is really good,” Inness said. “He’s a great returner so we have to be very smart the way we kick the ball to them.”

The Crusaders will look to take Henderson out of the game by pressuring Yuma Catholic’s young quarterback, Inness said.

Northwest Christian has its own Henderson on offense, offensive coordinator Bill Henderson, no relation to John Henderson.

Bill Henderson said the Crusaders will their hands full on offensive as almost every member of the Yuma Catholic defense is skilled at their position and can move quickly to the ball.

The offensive coordinator said the game plan was to try to spread the ball around to open up the run game for the Crusaders' offense.

This plan is reliant on good play from Northwest’s quarterbacks, senior Jarin Davis and sophomore Jonathan Metzger.

Hoyt said the Crusaders want to control the line with physical play and full effort to give their quarterbacks time, and running backs holes to run through

Despite the challenge of going up against what Inness called one of the most successful programs over the past eight years in the state of Arizona, Bill Henderson is not changing his attitude going into the contest.

“My prediction is always this: The good guys are going to win, and that’s us,” Bill Henderson said.