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West Holds on to Win 5th Annual All Star Game!

Lightning Stadium was host to the largest turn out in the history of the 8-Man All Star Football annual event Saturday night as players and fans from over 65 schools were in attendance. Some fans came from as far north as Lemoore, CA. in the central valley. This was the 5th annual event put on to raise money for the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. According to Ray Clifton, the Secretary of the 8-man Football Coaches association, "this was by far the largest turnout and hopefully the most profitable for the Hospital so far. I just love the atmosphere here at Lightning Stadium it seems everyone is having a good time and seeing a great game." The west has owned the series the last few years with a 3-1 edge and came into the game as the favorite to win, but the east gave them all they could handle.

The west got the ball first on the 15yd line and on the first play of the game, East's #64 Frank Marshall made his presence felt with a hard hit on West's #24 - Edgar Lucatero who fumbled the ball and home favorite East's #9 - Tim Krapivkin of Joshua Springs recovered the fumble. This gave the East great momentum to get started and 3 plays later East's #34 Tony Garrido, another JS all star, punched the ball in for the first score of the game. After the extra point by #10 Chase Agard the score was 7-0 with 9:48 left in the first quarter.

After a booming kick to the end zone by Agard, who allowed zero return yards all night, the west took over on the 15yd line. The East held on defense and West had to punt after 3 plays. Then what some consider to be the turning point in the early part of the game, a block-in-the-back penalty was called on the East and the West got a first down on the 32yd line. The next play Lucatero got loose on a reverse and scampered for 38yds for a TD. West's QB Jon Rasmussen tossed to Lucatero for the 2pt conversion and the West led 8-7 at the 5:45 mark of the 1st quarter.

The East got the ball back and played good controlled football for the next 8 plays mixing it up with passing and running. Then, with 39 seconds left in the first quarter, East's QB #5 Brent Rausch hit #24 Chris Arnold for a 3yd TD pass and the East went back up 14-8 after the Agard extra point.

The 2nd quarter started out with both teams playing good defense and holding each other on downs. Rausch then had the first of five miscues that would happen with his center and loss the ball to the west on the 36 yd line. The west worked its way to the 5yd line and then Rasmussen hit #44 Jared Dennis for a TD pass. Lucatero picked up the 2pt conversion and the West led 16-14 at the 6:45 mark of the quarter.

After recieving the kickoff, a very questionable "Intentional Grounding" call was made on Rausch on the first play of the series that put the East in a big hole and forced them to punt. The west ran the ball back 27yds to the 20yd line and then #33 Nick Cacho ran the ball in from 20 yds out on a sweep to pick up the score. #46 Chris Muntz made the 2pt conversion and the West went up 24-14 with 5:22 left in the 1st half.

The East, now under the pressure to score, came out throwing and Rausch was picked off by Lucatero of the West and the West took over on the 22yd line. A pass interference call gave the West a 1st and Goal on the 8yd line. Muntz then punched through for a TD that put the West up 30-14 with 1:39 in the half. The East took over but then fumbled the ball back to the west. The East then held on defense and the half was over.

The East game out in the third and moved the ball well but the West held and the East punted it away. The West took over and then Cacho for the west broke away for a 61yd TD run that took all the wind out of the East's hopefuls and put the West up 36-14 at the 4:40 mark of the quarter. The rest of the quarter was a defensive battle for both teams.

The fourth quarter was an exciting one. The quarter started out with the West fumbling the ball on a 3rd and 4 and Garrido recovered for the East. Rausch launched a beautiful pass only to have it picked off by #8 Daniel Massey of the West and he ran it back for a 70yd TD making the score 42-14 with 10:32 left in the game. Things looked pretty bad for the East at this point.

The East took over and drew from whatever strength they had left and started to drive down the field. Then Rausch hit Arnold for a 31yd pass play. On the next play Rausch showed the fans why he was the top rated passing QB in 2006 when he hit #1 Zack Sargent for a 25yd TD pass making the score 20-42 East, the 2pt conversion failed.

The West got the ball back and tried to slow the game down but the East held and the West had to punt. Arnold grabbed the punt and returned it 68 yds for a TD that brought, what seemed like, all of Yucca Valley out of their seats for the East. The 2pt conversion was good and the scored was 28-42 with 6:56 left in the game.

The question in everyone's mind was did the East have enough left in them to pull out a win at this point in the game. The West got the ball but went 4 and out as the East defense rose to the occasion. The East took over on the 36yd line of the West. Then four incomplete pass plays in a row stopped the East from getting in the end zone and they had to punt. The West took over but the East held them again to 4 and out. The East got the ball on their 12 yd line and started to drive the field. Six plays later the East scored on a Rausch to Arnold pass making the score 34-42 with just 32 seconds left in the game.

The East lined up for an onside kick and let the ball fly but the West were able to control the kick. The West then took a knee and ended the game. All in all it was a very exciting game with lots of big plays for the fans and players alike. Participating in the game from Joshua Springs were Seniors Krapivkin, Garrido and Kyle McClay.

The MVP for the West was Edgar Lucatero of Cuyama Valley High School and and the MVP for the East was Chris Arnold of Skyward Christian. The West is now 4-1 in the last five all star games.

Next, year the game will be held in Los Angeles as the California 8-Man All Stars will take on the Arizona 8-Man All stars in a Interstate battle.

July 15th, 2006
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