Previous Story
Tkel, Lightning stay unbeaten
|
Posted on Dec 26 2014
An Eastern Lightning player tries to prevent his opponent from the Southern Thunder from gaining more yards in their game in the Commonwealth Football League Association 2014 Youth League last Saturday at the CPA Airport Field. (Jon Perez)
The Dave Ada-mentored squad, with Zander Tkel playing at both ends of the field, remained undefeated after three games. The Lightning also beat the Thunder, 40-20, in their first meeting and downed the Northern Vikings, 46-12, last Dec. 13, for their flawless record.
The Lightning, in their second meeting with the Thunder, dominated their opponents the entire match with Tkel playing both in defense and offense.
Tkel rushed for 106 yards, sparking the Lightning offense with 2 touchdowns and a pair of 16-yard TD runs that helped his team establish a 20-0 lead at the break.
Donavin Ada opened the scoring for the Eastern side when he found Kevin Ogo free at the endzone for a 27-yard TD. Jose Camacho, after the first of Tkel’s two TD runs, ran to complete the 2-point conversion.
Tkel, replacing Ada as quarterback in the third period, hit Matthew Kapileo with a 34-yard TD pass to increase the Lightning lead to 26-0.
Ada returned in the fourth and ended his stint with a 15-yard TD pass to Matthew Kapileo, who completed Eastern’s scoring.
Tkel also spearheaded the Lightning defense with 13 tackles and one interception, while Ada and Gregorio Sablan had 5 each. The rest of the Eastern crew combined for 31 tackles.
The Lightning defense held the Thunder to a combined 127 yards in offense—30 in passing and 97 in rushing—compared to their 304 yards (147 passing and 157 rushing).
Tkel almost outrushed the entire Southern side. He finished with 106 total yards in rushing, while the Thunder’s Franko Bondoc, Norman Cabrera, Brent Azarcon, and Scottson Suda combined for 110.
The Thunder dropped to 1-2 with the loss and they are hoping to close out with a win that would secure them the second spot when they face the winless Vikings tomorrow at 1pm also at the Airport Field.
The Lightning will wrap up their season against the Vikings on Jan. 3. The championship will be played on Jan. 10. (Jon Perez)
