Every high school football player dreams of the perfect senior night. A big win, in front of a big crowd, to end their high school career with an exclamation point.

For the Northwest Christian Crusaders (5-2, 2-0), it was a dream come true as they shut out the River Valley Dust Devils 55-0 in a 3A region matchup.

Crusaders coach David Inness said he did not have to give much of a pregame speech to his team as the seniors set the tone with the team before the game.

“These seniors have been in here for four years so they know the deal,” Inness said. “The juniors and the sophomores wanted to play to make sure they finish out their senior night with a win.”

Not only did the Crusaders finish out the night with a win, they won in dominant fashion, holding the Dust Devils (2-5, 1-1) to 51 yards of offense.

Senior outside linebacker and quarterback Jarin Davis said the defense came into the game prepared after watching a lot of film on River Valley throughout the week.

“We knew what they were going to do in almost every formation,” Davis said. “We prepared really hard as if we are taking a big exam for a class and I think we aced it tonight.”

The Crusaders had no trouble turning their stout defense into offense, as the two interceptions the team collected in the first half were turned into 14 points.

Northwest Christian continued to keep its foot on the gas by running the ball for 100 yards in the first half. This helped the Crusaders chew up clock and expand their lead to 35-0 by the end of the second quarter.

Coming into the second half, it was more of the same, as the Crusaders received the second half kick off and scored on the opening possession.

This started the running clock as the Crusaders led by 42 or more points for the entire second half while holding the Dust Devils to 11 yards of offense.

A running clock means that the clock will only stop for timeouts and injuries but will remain running for all other normal stoppages in play.

Jadin Hoyt, a senior lineman for the Crusaders on defense was keeping the intensity level high and pass over that energy over to the offense.

“It(energy) gives you momentum,” Hoyt said. “Getting turnovers, getting the ball back, and working well on offense. It’s like a machine, once you get going, you’re going.”

Northwest never let go of its momentum adding 13 fourth quarter points to create the final score of 55-0 giving the Crusader seniors a memorable senior night.

The Crusaders also grabbed two more picks in the second half and even came up with a fumble recovery which added up to five turnovers on the night.

“It was awesome,” Hoyt said. “A really good experience with this team, one I will never forget.”