No. 13 Walden Grove suffered a season-ending defeat at home Friday night, falling 52-46 to No. 20 Phoenix Northwest Christian in the first round of the 4A state playoffs after giving up a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter.
The Crusaders scored 28 unanswered points to close the game, recovering two late onside kicks in the comeback. Walden Grove had a shot to win the game in the waning seconds but couldn’t score on 4th-and-goal from the 9-yard line.
“They just executed, we didn’t,” Walden Grove head coach Corey Noble said. “We made way too many mistakes at the end there. They did a great job coaching, and I did a bad job coaching. So just the situational stuff. We obviously weren’t ready for it. So I need to have us ready for those things.”
Walden Grove head coach Corey Noble talks about his message to the team after a heartbreaking 52-46 loss to Northwest Christian. The Crusaders were down 22 points in the fourth quarter, but came back to win. @AllSportsTucson pic.twitter.com/wqVLLhm36h
— Kevin Murphy (@KevinMurfee) November 8, 2025
Northwest Christian and Walden Grove traded scores early in the fourth quarter, with Crusaders’ quarterback Laki Wallwork completing a 4-yard touchdown pass to Landon Beckman and Walden Grove’s Sebastian Gallardo scoring on a 50-yard touchdown run to make it a 46-24 game with about six minutes left. Wallwork soon threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to Malachi Chavez, making it a two-possession game.
After recovering an onside kick, Northwest Christian scored on the ensuing possession when Wallwork connected with Conner Main on a 27-yard touchdown pass to cut Walden Grove’s lead to 46-38 with about four minutes to go. The Crusaders recovered another onside kick, leading to a 3-yard touchdown run by Debo Vitale to bring them within two points, but Northwest Christian was unable to tie the game after a failed two-point conversion.
A third attempt at an onside kick by Northwest Christian was unsuccessful, but Walden Grove couldn’t capitalize, missing a 45-yard field goal with about three minutes remaining.
Northwest Christian’s Nathan Johannes scored a touchdown on a 4-yard run, and the Crusaders followed it up with a successful two-point conversion to stretch their lead to 52-46.
Northwest Christian jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in the first quarter. Wheeler Delancey intercepted a pass and returned it to Northwest Christian’s 27-yard line, and on the first play of the second quarter, Walden Grove quarterback Gauge Abalos threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Steven Michael Valdez to put the Red Wolves up 7-3.
A 25-yard touchdown run by Dominic Sanchez and a successful two-point conversion that followed gave Walden Grove a 15-3 lead with about five minutes to go in the half. On the following possession, Wallwork scored on a 12-yard touchdown scramble to cut Walden Grove’s lead to 15-10. A 4-yard touchdown run by Abalos extended Walden Grove’s lead to 22-10 heading into halftime.
Jordan Dobson returned the opening kickoff of the second half 95 yards for a touchdown, pushing Walden Grove’s lead to 29-10. Wallwork scored on a 15-yard touchdown scramble to cut Walden Grove’s lead to 29-17 with about eight minutes to go in the third quarter. Later in the quarter, Omar Leyva kicked a 24-yard field goal to put Walden Grove up 32-17.
Angel Armenta intercepted a pass late in the third quarter, setting up a 25-yard touchdown pass from Abalos to Kylian Knight to extend the lead to 39-17.
Though the season for the Red Wolves concluded in heartbreaking fashion, Noble noted the team had “a lot to celebrate” at the upcoming team banquet.
“We had big goals and big aspirations for this year, and I just wish I would have had them ready to do it, because I think we could have accomplished a few more of them,” Noble said. “But we accomplished a lot of things, had a lot of really good stuff going on this year, and this senior class is a great group, a special group.”
Walden Grove and Northwest Christian have faced each other five times in regular season and postseason play in recent years. While the Red Wolves have lost four of the five meetings, Walden Grove earned its first playoff win in program history last season with a victory at Northwest Christian in the first round of the 4A state playoffs before falling to Yuma Catholic in the quarterfinals.
“They’re a good team. They’re an experienced team,” Noble said of Northwest Christian. “A lot of playoff experience, a lot of guys have played a lot of football, and they came out on top tonight.”
Noble has led the Red Wolves to five playoff appearances in his nine seasons leading the program, including three straight.
FOLLOW @KEVINMURFEE ON TWITTER! ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com writer Kevin Murphy was born and raised in Tucson, and has followed Arizona Wildcats athletics since childhood. Murphy is a journalist product manager with the Green Valley News the Sahuarita Sun. He has a bachelor’s degree from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at ASU.
Recommended for you
