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Thunder aims to bounce back against Saints
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Posted on Dec 05 2014
The Southern Thunder’s Matthew Reyes, second left, tries to get past the Eastern Lightning’s defense during the opening game in the Commonwealth Football League Association’s 2014 Youth Football League last week. (Jon Perez)
Game time is at 1pm at the CPA Airport Field with the Thunder hoping to put that defeat behind against last year’s finalists.
Southern dropped a 40-20 opening day decision against the Eastern Lightning last Saturday with the defending champions using their ground game behind Zander Tkel and quarterback Donavin Ada to top the former.
Tkel and Ada combined for five rushing touchdowns, completing 360 of the Lightning’s 456 total yards.
Despite the loss, the Thunder still showed good signs that it could be a title contender this season.
The Thunder even threatened to come back from an early double-digit spread as a Jeffrey Agulto fumble recovery resulted to a Matthew Reyes touchdown and moved the team within five, 19-14, in the opening minutes of the third period.
N-Nes Siech scored the Thunder’s first TD off a Norman Cabrera 33-yard pass, while Franko Bundoc made the 2-point conversion.
Cabrera, Brent Azaren and Jaret Rosario completed 3 passes each for Southern, combining for 180 yards but the Thunder’s running game was held by the Lightning defense to a total of 73 rushing yards.
Bundoc and Siech were also the bright spots for the Thunder as they combined for 136 receiving yards compared to the 34 of the defending champs’ Kimo Angailen and Ryuta Onuki.
The Lightning held its ground and thwarted the Thunder’s passing and running game to seal the win.
Tkel scored two more TDs, while Ada had one for the Lightning in the second half. (Jon Perez)
