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Lightning Win CIF 8-Man Div I Championship!

The Joshua Springs Lightning battled through injuries to top players, freezing rain and a fog filled stadium to finally win, on their 4th opportunity, the CIF 8-Man Division I Championship by defeating Faith Baptist 36-32. The Lightning fans filled the field as the last seconds ticked away for Faith Baptist and their undefeated season. This year only the Lightning stand undefeated and finally Coach Jackie Roberts has won the big one on his 83rd win out of 104 games. Roberts now has a winning percentage of 79.8% over his 9-year tenure.

It hardly ever rains in Yucca Valley, California, but on this day it rained and rained and rained until the field was a pool of water. Still the Lightning hopeful had filled the stadium to root for their team sensing something special was going to happen on this night. 8-Man football fans from all over Southern California were present to watch the battle of these two football powerhouses ranked #1 and #2 in the 8-Man Division I. People had been talking about this match up all year and now the time had come.

The Lightning offense ran by QB Jesse Fraser got the ball first and made their first mistake throwing an interception giving the Contenders the ball deep in Lightning territory. A few minutes later Faith Baptist drew first blood and went ahead 6-0 over the Lightning. Then the kickoff went to Eddie "Nitro" Nixon, the Lightning's al- time leading rusher, and he ran it back for a TD and the Lightning went ahead with a 2-pt conversion making it 8-6 Lightning. The Contenders scored again on a break away run by #45 of the contenders and they went up 12-6, after a failed extra point. The Lightning outscored the Contenders 22-12 in the 2nd quarter even though the field was full of fog and even the announcer could not see the plays to call them, it was 30-24, Lightning at the half. This was encouraging for the Lightning fans but everyone knew that Faith Baptist had won all their games in the 2nd half this year.

The 2nd half was a battle of defenses with Faith Baptist pulling with 4 in the 3rd quarter making the score 36-32, the Lightning defense stopped the Contenders deep in Lightning territory with under a minute on the clock 4 times. Junior Vince Ames lead the charge with a huge stop in the Contenders backfield on 2nd down causing a loss on the play. The Lightning held and the crowd went wild. All that remained was for Frazer to take a knee twice and this game was in the Hall of Fame! Both teams gained exactly the same yardage on offense 230 yds each. Now, that is a evenly matched game.

Top offensive players were Frazer who was 7 of 16 for 73 yds, 1 TD and an Interception in the air, while also rushing 16 times for 46 yards and 3 TDs. Nixon had his KO runback for a TD but only 6 other carries for 18 yds as he re injured his shoulder in the first quarter and left the game for good. Junior Cole Roberts stepped in and has 9 carries for 34 yds before he left the game with a knee injury. The Lightning had to turn to senior Alex Carter who had his game of the year as he rand 6 times for 46 yds but also caught 3 key passes for 43 yds. Senior CB Jon Krapivkin came into the game and played halfback for most of the last half and picked up 16 yds on 6 carries. Senior Boomer Arnold has 2 catches for 18 yds and a TD as well as a 2-pt conversion. Senior Derek Brogdon had 2 catches for 13 yds and a 2-pt conversion.

On defense, the Lightning were awesome. Carter lead all players on defense with 21 tackles, a sack, a caused fumble and a pass defense, Krapivkin had 13 tackles, a half sack and an interception, Brogdon had 13 tackles and 3 pass defenses, Frazer had 13 tackles, Arnold had 9 tackles and 1.5 sacks, Roberts had 7 tackles, Junior David Manley had 6 tackles, senior Jeff Brady had 3 tackles and a sack, Ames had 3 tackles one for a loss and sophomore Steven Henderson had 3 tackles. Brogdon had 6 KO's and 6 touchbacks allowing no KO returns at all for Faith Baptist.

We want to congratulate Coach Roberts, his incredible coaching staff, all the players, the parents, the cheer squad, the Pep Band and drum corps for all their hard work in making this a season to remember. Last but not least, the Lightning fans who are the best fans in 8-man football!

2007 Lightning football squad... You went to the ship and your getting your rings!