Nolan Tisdale threw for three touchdowns, and Bishop Diego clinched a share of the Frontier League football title by beating defending champion Grace Brethren 33-17 at Moorpark College on Friday night.
Bishop (7-1 overall) improves to 3-0 in league play with one game remaining against Villanova. Grace Brethren (4-4) is 1-1 in league play.
Christian Pearson recovered a Grace Brethren fumble early in the second quarter and two plays later Sam Kwock caught a 41-yard touchdown pass from Tisdale to give Bishop Diego a 7-0 lead.
Kwock caught five passes for 60 yards.
Grace Brethren got a break late in the first quarter when Reggie Reed intercepted a pass at the 5-yard line to thwart a promising drive for Bishop Diego.
The Lancers, however, were stopped by the Bishop Diego defense on fourth down from their own 34-yard line.
Two plays later, Jared Landseadel stripped the ball from Bishop Diego and returned it 35 yards to the Cardinals’ 35-yard line. Grace Brethren capitalized on the turnover with a 34-yard field goal by Micah McDowell to cut the Bishop Diego lead to 7-6.
The teams exchanged touchdown drives in the middle of the second quarter. First, Bishop Diego scored on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Tisdale to Reese Moulton.
Grace Brethren answered when Jack Gilliland scored on an 11-yard run late in the first half to make a 13-10 game.
Gilliland had 84 rushing yards on 11 carries.
Bishop Diego took the second-half kickoff and went on a 70-yard scoring drive that ate over six minutes off the clock. The drive was capped off with a six-yard touchdown pass from Tisdale to Kwock for a 20-10 lead.
Tisdale completed 8 of 10 pass attempts for 126 yards and three touchdown passes.
Grace Brethren had just one possession in the third quarter, and it ended tragically when the ball was snapped over the punter’s head, giving Bishop Diego possession on the Grace Brethren 10-yard line.
After a couple of goal-line stops by Grace Brethren, Bishop Diego scored when Jack Gregson punched in a 1-yard touchdown run, extending the lead to 27-10.
Early in the fourth quarter, Grace Brethren put together its most impressive drive of the game, going 83 yards. Sullivan Wall ended the drive by catching a 15-yard touchdown pass from Reed, cutting the Bishop Diego lead to 27-17 with just over six minutes to play in the game.
After forcing a Bishop Diego punt, Grace Brethren took possession at its own 26-yard line with 3:47 to play. But any hopes for a comeback were dashed on the first play when Nic Mon intercepted a pass and returned it 50 yards for the game-clinching score.
Brandon Gonzalez led Bishop Diego with 67 rushing yards.
—Courtesy of the Ventura Star
