Bishop Diego Trounces Northgate 35-16 in Non-League Contest

Strong defense and a powerful running game have been a formula for success for the Bishop Diego football team over the years and that approach paid dividends once again on Saturday in a 35-16 victory over Northgate of Walnut Creek. 

Bishop Diego was led by Gabe Villa hauled in two first quarter interceptions and rushed for 94 yards on five carries and a touchdown. Oscar Mauia rushed for 152 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns.

 “Gabe Villa had a heck of a first half. Obviously those two picks with the field position they created were critical for us to be able to put points on the board out of the box and gain a little bit of confidence,” said Bishop Diego coach Tom Crawford. “I thought overall we were sloppy at times and at other times we were playing pretty well.”

After Northgate converted a 44-yard field goal on its opening drive of the game, Bishop Diego got a boost offensively late in the first quarter with a Villa interception that set Cardinals up at the Northgate 12-yard line.

Three plays later, Isaiah Kitt powered into the endzone from two-yard out, giving the Cardinals a 7-3 lead with 3:14 remaining in the first quarter.

Villa grabbed another interception on the ensuing Northgate drive and returned it to the end zone but the touchdown was called back due to a holding penalty. However, Bishop Diego retained possession and a few plays later Maiau rumbled into the end zone from the nine-yard line.

“It’s interesting because they are slightly different running backs as you can see,” said Crawford of his deep stable of running backs. “Having guys that you can rotate carrying the ball, obviously allows those guys to play on the defensive side of the ball, which is huge for us.”

The Bishop Diego lead ballooned to 21-3 on a 60-yard touchdown run by Villa, who expertly followed his blocks and exploded up the sideline.

“I just saw my line create a massive gap, my lead blocker Isaiah Kitt had a nice block on the linebacker that gave me a hole and I took off,” Villa said. “I mean offense is fun scoring touchdowns, but defense, getting stops is just as important.”

The Cardinals extended their lead to 27-3 just before halftime on a 25-yard pass from Tua Rojas to John Michael Flint. Bishop Diego didn’t need to rely upon the passing game against Northgate, but Rojas has been extremely efficient when called upon this season.

He finished five-of-nine passing for 81 yards before sitting out the majority of the second half.

On Northgates first possession of the second half Arizona commit Mays Pese and J.D. Vargas combined to force a safety, increasing the Bishop Diego lead to 29-3.

Mauia tacked on a 75-yard touchdown with 52 seconds remaining in the third quarter to increase the Bishop Diego lead to 35-3. 

Northgate scored two fourth quarter touchdowns on a four-yard pass from Brady Willis to Blayne Ballard and a three-yard run by Deangelo Smith.

Bishop Diego (3-1) will travel to Rancho Cucamonga to take on Etiwanda next week.