By Gary Gorman
Last Friday evening (September 30) Resurrection Christian Cougars football team came to Jet Johnson Field to take on the Lyons Lions. There was some talk that the Lions would get beat in this game. Why? Because Resurrection was ranked above Lyons in the polls, they had scored an average of 48 points per game, they had some big players
on their front lines, and they had a running back whom Coach John Nichols described as “a beast.” And if they needed anymore incentive, it was the Lions homecoming game, which in “football terms” is like calling your team out. But, none of these things even fazed the Lions; in fact the Lions slammed the door in Resurrections face so hard you could have heard it on the top of Longs Peak.
The Lions not only shut out the Cougars 20 to 0, but they shut them down completely. The cougars had a grand total of 14 yards rushing, and never got within the Lions 45-yard line. The game started out in the usual manner, with kicker Forrest Donnell putting the ball deep in the end zone forcing the Cougars to set up on their own 20-yard line. The Lions defense then made it very clear how the game was going to go, shutting down the Cougars’ vaunted running game and forcing them into a third and long. When the Cougars’ quarterback tried to rollout and scramble, the Lions defense was ready. Led by Levi Campbell, and with help from John Mathewes and Billy Housley, the home team sacked the QB all the way back at the 5-yard line. This would be the first of seven sacks the Lions would register throughout the game, with Clint Hirschfeld leading the defense with a total of three on the night.
The Lions returned the punt to the Cougar 30-yard line, and started moving. Jayse Long capped the drive with a burst up the middle for a the score; Donnell added the extra point, and the Lions were up 7 to 0, early in the first quarter. The Lyons’ defense again shut the Cougars down and after a good punt, the Lions’ offense started deep in their own end, with the ball on the 7-yard line. Lyons got a first down out to the 18-yard line. On the next play, Jayse Long took the handoff, rolled around the right side, cut back to the middle of the field, and was off to the races; rumbling all the way down to the 5-yard line before being tripped up by the Cougars defense. The Lions’ offense struggled to finish the drive, and Donnell came in and kicked a field goal to put the Lions up 10 to 0.
The Cougars started to get their offense untracked in the second quarter until Anthony Triffet intercepted a Cougar pass on the Lions 40-yard line, and with a nifty return, brought it back into Cougar territory. The Lions’ drive would was stalled, when the ball was stripped from quarterback Jordan Melani and the Cougars took over on their own 30-yard line. Try as they might, the Cougars could do nothing with this opportunity, and punted the ball back to the Lions, who then pounded their way down to the 1-yard line. From there, Melani pushed it in. Donnell’s extra point put the Lions up 17 to 0 at the half.
At the start of the second half, the Lions’ offense had a fourth and one, on the Cougar 35-yard line. The call went to Eric Blair to get the yard, and Blair not only got the yard, but the lad took half the defense with him as he bulled his way down to the Cougar 20-yard line. The offense could not convert the effort, and for the rest of the third quarter the two teams battled each other in the middle of the field.
In the fourth quarter the Lions advanced the ball down to the Cougar 16-yard line, where Donnell kicked a field goal to put the Lions up 20 to 0, and that is how the game ended. The Lions’ defense showed their grit, stuffing the Cougar running game, and keeping the passing game off balance all night with the seven sacks. The Lyons’ offense was led again by Jayse Long with 17 carries for 166 yards, and Jordan Melani who added 13 carries for 47 yards. The Lions are now ranked fourth in Class 1A football, and are headed to Nederland on Thursday, October 6, for a 3:30 p.m. game.
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