Lightning Football News...

  

The Lightning (7-3, 5-0), entered the 2004 CIF 8-Man Large Division Playoffs in strong fashion defeating the Riverside Christian Cougars (4-5) 20-7 at Lightning Stadium Friday night. This was a huge win for the Lightning as the Cougars have won the previous three games played between the two schools.

It was a cold night on the hilltop and only the true "purple and gold" Lightning fans came out to the game, about 400 in all. That's not a bad turn out, but it didn't compare to the 2500 that came out for homecoming just one week before. Maybe the fans just couldn't stand the thought of another loss to the Cougars? Well, the fans that made it were not disappointed in this game.

The Lightning dominated the game from start to finish. On the first series the Cougars were stopped by a Senior Kevin Adair interception. The Lightning offense then marched down the field and scored on a 21 yd pass play from Junior QB Tim Krapivkin to Adair coming out of a "spread offense". This play totally caught the Cougars by surprise and it was 7-0 Lightning after Adair kicked the extra point.

Sounds like Adair was having a good night doesn't it? Well, Adair didn't have a good night, he had an incredible night! In the second quarter Adair got another pick, his 7th of the year, stopping the Cougars again. This time it was the running of Junior Tony Garrido, Freshman Eddie Nixon and Krapivkin that kept the Cougar defense on their heels. The Lightning marched down the field to pay dirt when Krapivkin got his 2nd TD through the air on a 25 yd strike to Junior TE Richard Ressa and the score was 13-0, the extra point failed. The half ended at 13-0, Lightning.

The Lightning got the ball first in the 2nd half, but their first drive was filled with penalties and they had to punt the ball away. The Cougars took over and seemed to have a new attitude as they started a good drive chipping away at the Lightning defense. Another penalty on the Lightning and the Cougars found themselves on the Lightning 5 yd line with a 1st and goal.

All of a sudden Lightning fans started remembering games past and how we let the Cougars back into the games after having them down early, you could feel a momentum switch in the crowd. The Lightning defense must have remembered it too because they made an incredible goal line stand stopping the cougars in 4 plays and taking over on the 3 yd line.

You could see the disappointment in the eyes of the Cougar players and the game momentum switch to the Lightning sidelines and the Lightning started to march the other way with one successful running play after another, the clock was running out on the Cougars this time. The Lightning scored when Garrido found a hole in the line for a 4 yd score and the Lightning lead 20-0, after the extra point. The clock was showing only 4:07 to play and now the Cougars were playing not to win but to avoid the shutout. After passing on nearly every down, the Cougars found themselves with a 4th down and 10. The Cougar QB in a last effort launched a "Hail Mary" pass to the end zone and the Cougars Kyle Hernandez came down with it to score and avoid a Cougar shutout.

The Lightning ran out the clock and finally beat the Cougars ending the Cougar dominance over the Lightning. It was a great game.

The Lightning, will be going on the road in the quarter-final match all the way to Lemoore, CA to take on the Undefeated Kings Christian (10-0). The Lightning are definite underdogs in this match by several touchdowns. The Kings have averaged 45 points a game while only giving up 6 pts a game on defense. The Lightning have been considered an underdog in most of their games this year, but this Lightning team is playing their best football right now and anything can happen. You don't want to miss this game!

A charter bus will be available for all fans that are unable to drive to the game at only $10 for the trip. We will know by Monday afternoon whether we will play on Friday or Saturday. Call the school office and make your reservations now, at 365-3599.

More Football News

Nov 5th, 2004
Lightning 2004 Agape League Champions!

Oct 29th, 2004
Lightning Defense Too Much for CSOD!

Oct 16th, 2004
Lightning Hold on to Win, 20-15!

Oct 8th, 2004
Lightning Open Agape League with 46-12 Win!

Oct 2nd, 2004
Lightning Fall Short in Fourth Quarter!

Sept 24th, 2004
Riverside Christian Holds on to Win 23-22!

Sept 17th, 2004
Bloomington Christian Wins 48-18 over Lightning!

Sept 15th, 2004
Bloomington Christian to Challenge the Lightning!

Sept 10th, 2004
Lightning Win 28-22 in come-from-behind Victory!

June 15th, 2003
Visit the Lightning Football Archives for 2002!