posted November 17, 2006
Friendship Christian toppled Tennessee Temple 54-7 Friday night in a battle of unbeaten teams.
The Crusaders, in only their fourth year of football, were plagued by six turnovers on the night.
Afterwards, Temple Academy development director Rob Eldridge said the Crusaders will be back despite losing a dozen seniors.
He said, "We will most definitely have a football team next year. No doubt about it. We will be rebuilding and reloading."
*Eldridge said the Crusaders "have enough players to field a team right now. And we expect about a dozen players to transfer in. We'll be back vying for region again."
He said over 300 fans made the road trip. "We couldn't be prouder of our boys, of our fans and of our school."
Temple got a touchdown early in the second quarter on a 70-yard pass play to Seth Skogen.
However, the Crusaders were hampered by turnovers.
Temple appeared to have an early touchdown on a 40-yard play, but Joey Skogen was caught from behind and the ball was knocked loose and recovered by Friendship Christian.
Temple also had a fumble on a bad snap, giving Friendship Christian the ball on the Crusader 6-yard line. The home team quickly punched it in.
Friendship Christian took advantage of another turnover early in the third quarter, picking off a Crusader pass that was meant for Dee Newsome. The pass was intercepted at midfield and carried to the Temple 35. Friendship converted two plays later.
Temple later tried a quarterback option. But the pitch was recovered by Friendship Christian in the end zone for still another score.
The Crusaders had two fourth-quarter threats that stalled near paydirt.
A pass to Seth Skogen was picked off in the end zone with about 10 minutes remaining.
Later in the fourth quarter, another toss intended for Dee Newsome was picked off at the two-yard line.
Friendship Christian scored the final TD on a 50-yard run.
* Eldridge said the Crusaders "have enough players to field a team right now. And with a 15% increase in enrollment this year already we anticipate more than a dozen students will transfer to our school next year which will have a positive impact on our athletic programs.”
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