Lightning shock Eagles, 16-2

The Shell Lightning struck from the air to down the Express Electronics Eagles in their first competition in the Commonwealth Football League on Saturday in the final game of the weekend double header at the CPA Airport Field.

Quarterback Brian Hahn led the Lightning aerial attack on a pair of touchdown drives while Chico Reyes and company sealed the gaps to prevent the Eagles from mounting a comeback on the fully saturated field.

Hahn finished 5-for-23 on the day with 99 yards and a touchdown strike to Clas Ngeskebei, but he was not without error as the first year CFL player threw an interception and lost a pair of fumbles.

The former Chiefs weapon finished the day with two catches for 31 yards, and Oscar Sablan reeled in three for 41 yards to emerge as Saipan’s T.O.

Though it wasn’t perfect, the passing attack was all that the Lightning had as their running game failed to generate positive yardage—actually losing two yards to the Eagles.

The straight-ahead juggernaut Jeff Boyer was only able to gain three yards on two carries while Donn Fejeran gained five yards in eight attempts.

Running wasn’t as much of a problem for the Eagles, but they were unable to keep from fumbling away their chances. Phil Kapileo lost fumbles that halted back-to-back drives, but he was not the only weapon with a tendency to turn the ball over, as there were a total of six fumbles in the contest.

Stanley Iakopo generated 42 yards on the ground for the Eagles, but despite his progress, the Lightning held the green machine to 55 yards of offense.

Despite the poor production, the Eagles drew first blood from the Lightning when George Lieto’s punt was blocked out of the end zone for a safety to give the Green and Black a 2-0 lead, but they gave the ball back to the Lightning with prime field possession on the ensuing kick when they fumbled the ball on the 22 yard line.

After finding Ngeskebei for an 18-yard completion in the four-yard line, Hahn broke the plane on a quarterback sneak to give the Lightning a 6-2 lead. They successfully converted the point after attempt when former Verizon Nitro utility player Lieto caught a pass for two.

Penalties and poor field conditions plagued both squads, and the Lightning capitalized on Kapileo’s first fumble when Hahn found Ngeskebei with 26 seconds left for a touchdown. Once again the quarterback found Lieto for the two-point conversion and the Lightning took a 16-2 lead into the half

Overzealous players let loose their emotions and suffered the wrath of the officials as the Eagles lost the services of two players due to unsportsmanlike conduct. The loss of focus contributed to their inability to mount a comeback, as well as Dominic Reyes’ interception in the closing minutes.

By the time the gun sounded to end the game, the Eagles racked up more yards in penalties than offense to the tune of 80 to 55, while the Lightning only fared slightly better with 97 yards of total offense to 40 yards on eight penalties.

Eagles coach Pete Le’au was clearly not happy with the outcome of the game but said that the season is young and his team will be prepared when they return to the field to take on the Barbarians next week.

“We beat ourselves today, so we’ll be ready for the next time. Live and learn, man. We made a lot of mistakes, a lot of fumbles, and even the punt and kick returns. We’ll bounce back, but our guys were hot, and that’s what really hurts. I know how these guys feel, but they gotta control it. But we’ll be ready. We’ll be back.”

Lightning lineman John Blanco had double duty for the Blue and Gold as warrior in the trenches as well as the head coach. Despite the added responsibilities, Blanco said that he was happy to be on the field as opposed to watching from the press box as the CFL chairman.

“I missed it man. Honestly there’s nothing better than being on the field. Definite props to the Eagles defense, they’re a bunch of hard hitters,” he said.

While his squad left the rain-soaked field with the win, Blanco said that there were times when he wasn’t sure how his team would fare in the foul weather.

“To tell you the truth when it started to rain I was dreading it because everyone knows our offense—we’re a passing team, and right off the bat we knew we were going to have some problems. It’s a mud pit out there. It’s really hard to move the ball. I think we’ve got a lot to work on. Their defense was getting in, they were getting a lot of penetration, and obviously we had some sacks on us,” said Blanco.

After praising the way his team’s defense rose to the occasion in the mud, most of the coach’s disappointment stemmed from the lack of production from the vaunted offensive unit that was supposed to produce big numbers, but Blanco said that the squad got back to work last night on the practice field in an effort to improve.

“The score is only 16-2, but those two touchdowns that we got were off of turnovers. It really didn’t show how our offense can move the ball. We didn’t move the ball offensively when we needed it. The defense is what did it for us today—bottom line. I’m actually kind of surprised because coming into this game I thought our defense was going to be our weakness, but it was definitely our strength,” he said.

Like Blanco, Will Hunter spent last season on the sidelines, and the mountain of a lineman said that he was happy to join the team and glad to put on the pads and mix it up in the trenches.

“It was okay, but I’ve got to look out for injuries. It worked out. Everybody on the team worked pretty well, and we’ve got this guy to thank,” he said as he pointed to Hahn.

In his first outing with the Lightning, Hahn had a rough day on the muddy field and spent most of his time in the backfield running from bloodthirsty defenders. The quarterback escaped the clutches of his pursuers on most occasions but suffered three sacks. By the end of the game his uniform resembled a flag at half-mast, but Hahn said that he enjoyed playing on Saipan.

“It was great. It’s a good level of competition, good athletes, good players, good fun—it’s a good thing,” he said.

With a week to prepare for their next match-up with the undefeated Tinian Typhoon, Hahn said he has an idea of what he and his teammates will be working on during practice.

“We’re just going to work on our execution, focus on stopping the mental break downs, and keeping our team together with no penalties,” he said.

With only a handful of days remaining before the Lightning get their second test, Blanco knows the challenge that awaits this Saturday when the Typhoon return to Saipan, and he said that his team will be ready.

“Well we’re going to prepare for them. I know Keith [Nabors] already came up to me and asked ‘What’s your number John? What position are you playing?’ And he told me straight off the bat that he’s bringing it so it’s going to be a hard game next week. Definitely Tinian is a tough team. I think that the Barbarians underestimated them and they paid the price. I’m not going to underestimate them, and hopefully we’ll be ready.”