Lightning Football News...

    

Lightning Win by a Yard, 32-30!

The Lightning (6-4, 5-0) hosted the Lighthouse Christian Saints from Santa Monica on Friday, November 21 at Lightning Stadium in the 2nd round of the 2008 CIF 8Man Division II playoffs. The Saints came into the game 7-4, 3-0 out of a tough Harbor League and had hopes of defeating the Lightning in their first ever meeting on Lightning field. The Saints had soundly defeated Southlands Christian in the first round 54-14, while the Lightning having finished 4th in Division II had a bye for the first round and were ready to play some football.

This game would be a game that many would consider an "Ugly" win. The Lightning fumbled the ball 5 times and gave up one interception yet still managed to hold on to win. It was a great game to watch if you were a Saints fan until 1:53 left in the game when the Lightning managed to stuff the conversion try by just 1 yard and run out the clock for the win.

The game started out with the Saints scoring first on an 8 yd run to pay dirt with 7:25 left in the first quarter. The Lightning also marched down the field and then the offense sputtered giving the ball back to the Saints. The Saints then marched back down the field again and at the 1:23 mark of the first quarter making it 16-0 with the 2 pt conversion. The Lightning just didn't seem to have an answer for stopping the Saints at this point.

The 2nd quarter was a quarter of miscues for the Lightning offense driving down the field only to fumble deep, just yards away from the end zone. The Lightning did manage to stop the Saints from scoring in the 2nd quarter causing a fumble of their own and the half finished 0-16 Saints.

The 3rd quarter started out as a defensive battle with neither team able to score until the 3:33 mark of the 3rd quarter when Lightning TE Josh Leichtner got loose and QB Zack Ontiveros hit him for a TD, RB Cole Roberts made the 2-pt conversion and the score was 8-16, Saints. The Lightning running game was not getting it done at this point so the Lightning started to open it up through the air. The Saints answered quickly marching down the field also using the pass and with 2:29 left in the 3rd, scored making it 8-24 with the 2pt conversion. The Lightning also answered by sustaining a strong drive that ended the third quarter with the Lightning within striking distance.

The fourth quarter started with the Lightning scoring on a 10 yd run from Roberts and a 2pt conversion from Leichtner. The score was now 16-24, Saints. The Lightning stopped the Saints with a Vinny Ames sack and got the ball back. The Lightning then started moving the ball well and Ontiveros hit Leichtner on a 23 yd pass play and a 2pt conversion to tie the game at 24-24. The Saints were marching again but then passed once too often and was picked off by Safety Erik McClay on the Lightning 12 yd line and ran it back 43 yds to the Saints 21 yd line. The Lightning took over and even though they sputtered a bit managed to get the ball in the end zone on a QB keeper by Ontiveros, the 2pt conversion was good and the Lightning lead 32-24 for the first time in the game with just less than 3 minutes left. The Saints showed no signs of giving up and was able to drive and score again with 1:58 left in the game. The Lightning D dug in and did not allow the 2 pt conversion allowing the offense to run out the clock and pull off the win.

Next, up the Lightning is a CIF 8Man Div II semi-final match with the undefeated Big Pine Warriors at Lightning stadium at 7:00PM Friday, November 28th. The Warriors are 10-0 and are currently ranked #1 in CIF 8Man Division II. This will be a tough game for the Lightning defense as the Warriors have averaged 49.3 pts a game on offense.