Northview football remains undefeated with blowout win over Village Christian

COVINA — The high-scoring Northview football team stayed undefeated with a 35-6 win over Village Christian of Sun Valley Thursday night at Covina District Field.

The game was called with 2:14 left after Vikings sophomore Jeremy Arrellano suffered an injury and had to be taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital for evaluation.

“That is a hard way to end any game,” Vikings coach Marcel Perez said. “We just hope he is OK and we will check on him later.”

The Vikings (5-0) got off to a quick start and never looked back.

C.J. Carrillo took a short opening kickoff at his 28-yard line, reversed field and took it 72 yards for a quick 6-0 lead.

The Vikings jumped offside four times on the Crusaders’ first possession but still managed to hold them on downs at their own 49.

The Vikings went to work again, finishing a short drive with quarterback Eric Jimenez’s four-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Isaiah Lucero for a 13-0 lead with 4:26 left in the first quarter.

The Crusaders dropped to 1-4

“This wasn’t even close to our best game of the season,” Perez said. “We had a lot of penalties, but we were coming off a bye week and were trying to get back in the groove.”

The Vikings switched quarterbacks in the second quarter with junior Robert Lucero stepping in for Jimenez.

He ran for a seven yard touchdown and threw a 64-yard touchdown to his brother Isaiah Lucero with 38-seconds left in the first half.

“This was the first time I’ve been able to run a complete drive,” Robert Lucero said. “I’ve played quarterback in earlier games because I’ve got a good arm and can through deep.”

Lucero completed four of five passes for 107 yards and one touchdown to lead the Vikings offense.

When he wasn’t on offense he was playing free safety on a defense that held the Crusaders to 38 yards on the ground.

The Crusaders were forced to go to the air because of the Vikings run defense with quarterback Everson Mathis completing 15 of 30 passes for 191 yards and a touchdown.

The Crusaders only touchdown came on a fourth and 24 from the Vikings 26-yard line.

Wide receiver Tyes McCondichie made a catch with a defender draped across his shoulders for the score.

Vikings running back Keanu Tauvao sat out because of load management and lineman Angel Corona sat out to recover from some minor injuries suffered two weeks earlier against Covina.

It was the final nonleague game for the Vikings, who wanted to make sure they’re healthy heading into next week’s Valle Vista League opener at Diamond Ranch.

“We were rotating in some linemen getting load management for Keanu,” Perez said. “We always say the next man has to step up. Our biggest focus is to get to the post season, get through our league and get to the playoffs.”

The Vikings have been to the CIF Southern Section playoffs for 11 consecutive years but might be a victim of their own success. They have been moved from Division 10 in 2021 when they won a championship to Division 5 last year.

They Vikings are projected to be in Division 4 on Calpreps’ computer rankings, which help decide playoff divisions at the end of the regular season.