This past Saturday I watched the Faith Lutheran Crusaders (Nevada) take on the Chandler Wolves in the Polynesian Football Classic in Las Vegas, Nevada. Behind a 28-0 run to open up the game and five touchdown passes thrown by quarterback Jacob Conover, the Wolves cruised to a 35-21 victory to move to 3-1 on the season.

Jacob Conover lit up the Faith Lutheran secondary on Saturday. Conover was in the zone, completing almost 70 percent of his passes for 282 yards and 5 touchdowns. Conover was in a type of groove that great veteran quarterbacks tend to be in, no matter how good of a team they play. Conover continues to be a fantastic leader, leading a very powerful offensive unit.

Gunner Maldonado was named the Offensive MVP of the Polynesian Football Classic and rightfully so. Maldanado is as crisp of a route runner has any junior wideout in the state. His combination of speed and acceleration out of his breaks make him a threat to take it the distance every time he catches a pass. Maldanado finished the night with 8 receptions for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns, highlighted by a beautiful basket catch off a hitch-and-go route, torching the corner for a touchdown.

Zach Bowers lead the charge on an outstanding defensive performance. Bowers set the tone early coming through the line on a blitz, delivering a bone crushing hit on the Faith Lutheran quarterback sending his helmet flying through the air. Two plays later, Bowers read the eyes of that same quarterback, under-cutting a route snagging a interception for the Wolves’ defense.

Latrell Tellis had a stellar performance on Saturday night. Tellis lined up against one of the Crusaders’ best wideouts for most of the game, consistently playing tough defense against the much bigger receiver. Tellis’ tight coverage and quick breaks on the football resulted in multiple passes being defended including back-to-back plays on a 3rd and 4th down to end a Faith Lutheran drive in the 1st half.

Chandler’s front seven on defense dominated this football game. Edge rushers Malik Reed and Max Sandlin powered through blockers, creating havoc in the Faith Lutheran back field, forcing errant throws that turned into multiple interceptions for the Wolves’ secondary. The linebacking core thats highlighted by Bowers and Junior Tate Romney is an athletic group who can all drop back in coverage and can also come up and drop the hammer down on ball carriers. This unit is a very disciplined group who plays great fundamentally sound football.

For the first 24 minutes of this football game, the Chandler Wolves played the best football I've seen from any team all season long. Unfortunately, the Wolves let off the gas pedal in the 2nd half and got outscored 21-7 by the Crusaders. The Wolves had 3 turnovers offensively, including a fumble inside their own 5 yard line that resulted in a Crusader score. “In the 2nd half we were slow. We couldn't get into a rhythm, and we couldn't execute in the run or passing game,” said quarterback Jacob Conover after the game. This Faith Lutheran team was no slouch; the Crusaders had athletes littered at every position. However, if the Chandler Wolves can put together a full game and play for a full 48 minutes like they did in this 1st half, they will be almost impossible to beat.

There’s nothing “ugly” about this Chandler team. What’s going to be ugly is the opposing team’s secondary play when this Jacob Conover to Brayden Liebrock connection that picked up at the end of last season, heats up this season. Heading into this game Liebrock had caught a total of 9 passes for 63 yards. On Saturday’s game Conover and Liebrock connected early and often as the 6’5 tight end finished the game with 6 catches for 59 yards and touchdown. Liebrock’s day was highlighted by an outstanding catch on a deep ball thrown over the middle. Liebrock burned the Crusader secondary, looked over his shoulder, and made an outstanding diving catch. Later in that series, Conover hit Liebrock in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown. Chandler has so many weapons offensively, if this connection gets going, defenses will be in a load of trouble.

Avery Carrington isn’t a player who’s under the radar or “slept on” by any means, but he’s a great football player to go out and see if you love secondary players. Carrington is a fast and athletic player who has a high football IQ. At the free safety position, Carrington is the quarterback of that secondary, and he always makes sure his secondary players knows what the calls and checks are. Carrington made plays all over the football field and his day was highlighted by an interception he made as he sprinted over to the right sideline and robbed a pass out of the air intended for the Crusaders’ #1 wideout.

“I think we just need time to relax. Recover as a whole team, mentally and physically. I think Coach Aguano did a really nice job putting our bye in the middle. Grind through the first half and grind through the second half (of the season). With that break in the middle I think we’re going to become a new team.” -Jacob Conover.

Chandler (3-1) has a bye week