GLENDALE – Aquinas football dominated Village Christian 55-0 in the final game of the regular season to win their third straight outright Ironwood League title and their seventh straight league title dating back to when they previously played in the Ambassador League. Aquinas was dominant in league play this season, outscoring its league opponents 199-20.
“It’s always the goal to win a league championship. These guys deserve this. They’ve worked hard for it,” Aquinas coach Jordan Brusig said. “Village Christian is a great team and we take it with a lot of pride and humility that we’re gonna go represent the Ironwood League in the playoffs this year.”
Aquinas running back Champ Brown had 14 carries for 106 yards and three touchdowns before being pulled at the end of the first half. Quarterback Malachi Jones completed six of his nine passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns. Jones also had a 4-yard touchdown run at the beginning of the second quarter in the final possession he played before he subbed out.
“It feels good to get the win.” Jones said. “It’s kind of the tradition we set to win league titles at Aquinas and we know the expectations we put on ourselves at the beginning of the year and we were able to complete that tonight.”
Aquinas jumped out to a 48-0 halftime lead after scoring on all six of its first-half offensive possessions and also getting a score on defense. The defensive score came from linebacker Mike Davis when he got an interception for the Falcons and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.
“The offensive line performed great. They’re the main reason I had all these yards and was able to score touchdowns today,” Brown said. “It feels great showing all the work we put out and we just played clean football tonight and had a great game.”
The Aquinas defense held the Village offense to 107 total yards in the game, with most of them coming in the second half against Aquinas’ backups. Village was without their starting quarterback Everson Mathis in the game and also lost their starting running back Donovan Howard and starting wide receiver Tyes McCondichie to injuries in the first half of the game.
Aquinas’ leading tackler Rico Tupai, a native of Australia, had five tackles including one for a loss in the first half. Jordan Easthope had a sack for Aquinas and Anthony Uribe had an interception for the Falcons.
“I’m proud to be representing Aquinas. It feels really good to help get them another league title,” Tupai said. “The defense is still getting better and better every week and it’s been really nice to see that.”
The final score for Aquinas came in the second half from Jusyis Solis on a 22-yard touchdown run to make the final score 55-0. The Sacramento State commit played in the game with a club on his right hand and finished with eight carries for 115 yards and the one score. Solis also added a solid contribution in the defensive backfield.
“That’s an amazing program, they do a great job and they know how to get the job done and that’s what they did today,” Village coach Richard Broussard said. “We’ll probably be on the road somewhere next week in the playoffs and we’re just blessed for another opportunity next week to compete.”
Aquinas finished the season 8-2 and 5-0 in league play. Village Christian finished tied for second place in the Ironwood League with a 4-6 record and 3-2 record in league play. Both teams will now wait and see where they will play in this season’s CIF Southern Section playoffs on Sunday morning’s bracket release.