They don't ask how, they ask how many; Crusaders win third straight

As the final days of October approach and the weather begins to take a turn for the worse, teams hoping to make a deep push into the playoffs need to be able to win ugly. The Holy Cross Crusaders avoided the downpour that was Friday night in the Lower Mainland by mere minutes, but won ugly nonetheless in a 7-0 defensive battle against the Mission Road Runners.

For the Crusaders, this gritty win meant more than your typical victory.

"The most important part of the day was that it was our seniors' day, as it's our last home game. It was so important for them to get that win on our home field, and we couldn't be happier for them," said Crusaders head coach Conrad Deugau.

Holy Cross started the season with four straight losses. A start like that can often derail a team's season completely. In the case of the Crusaders' 2025 campaign, they've grown and learned how to handle adversity when faced with it. A skill they needed to use once again on Friday afternoon.

"We fumbled our opening snap of the game, which was also on our own 40-yard line. We completely shut down the Mission Offence on that series. That was very likely the turning point of the game," said Deugau.

An early miscue like the one just mentioned doesn't seem like such a big deal when you've rebounded from a 0-4 start. The Crusaders reset after their early mistake and won the turnover battle the rest of the way with a fumble recovery by defensive end Carter Poirier, and interceptions by defensive backs Adrian Kwok and Josh Zulke. 

Jacob Marinelli broke the scoring with a 50-yard Punt Return in the second quarter for the only score of the game. The Crusaders' defence remained stout the rest of the way and when the game clock struck zero, Holy Cross had won their 3rd straight game.

From 0-4 to 3-4, the Crusaders will look to get back to .500 when they take on the Abbotsford Panthers on Halloween, in a massive game with crucial playoff seeding on the line.