Bigger school, bigger kids, still couldn't beat Lighthouse

By Landon Nayoan --

A musician, three artists, a philosopher, a soccer star, a Korean, a Pakistani and two Dartmouth boys executed the impossible to holding off the seemingly inevitable TD to tie 30-30 against Valley Oaks Center for Enriched Studies.

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The Vanguards were on the 1-yard line with 30 seconds, and Lighthouse Christian Academy's quilt-patched team stopped them for three downs to preserve the tie.

"We did not quit," said Coach Justin Kayne. "They had 22 players. They probably had 100 pounds on us in every position, but we went out there and punched them in the mouth play after play.

"This was one of the greatest battles I've ever seen," Kayne added. "We had nine guys. We played with so much frickin heart. It was remarkable and phenomenal. We crushed it."

Little Lighthouse, whose entire student population numbers less than Valley Oaks senior class, was leading the for most of the game. It was 22-16 at half.

But three fumbles -- including a heartbreaker within 10 years of TD -- kept the Saints frustratingly just out of reach of victory.

Holding calls against Lighthouse's Korean player also did not help.

With three minutes on the clock, the Vanguards drove the ball up the field to what seemed an inevitable TD and W.

They got to the 1-yard line. For the entire game, Valley Oaks was able to push the middle for the first down. But when it mattered most, they couldn't use their girth to good effect.

They lost yards on a penalty.

With just seconds and the last down, a bad hike sent the quarterback scrambling backwards with Jeremiah Love, whose mom is Pakistani, tracking to tackle.

This is how Lighthouse works. With 35 kids representing its entire study body, tryouts consist of almost forcing boys to join the team just so they can have a team.

That's how the musician, Caleb Campos, got recruited. That's how artists Morgan Miles, Jasu Diaz and Ismael Diaz got recruited. That's how Korean Jong Ho Lee signed up.

Soccer star Exjani Rojas with kickoffs into the end zone, kept Valley Oaks far back to start their drives.

The philosopher? Alex Brick, who smartly blocked an extra points pass that would have given Valley Oaks the victory, is a bona fide player.

The Dartmouth boys, Justice and Shaughnessy Neos, hail from pure football stock. Their dad played for Dartmouth and coached at college level.