Distracted in class, distracted on the field

The Lighthouse Christian Academy fell before rivals Hillcrest Christian School 6-50 Friday in a game where coaches were constantly yelling at players out of position or players not following directions.

"Their players were bigger than us, so it was just a matter of time before they moved us," said Head Coach Zach Scribner. "But that's not the reason it was 50-6. The reason why it was 50-6 is because there are things that we do in practice that people aren't paying attention to, so somebody misses it. Some of our guys were messing around (during practice) while we were talking."

Joshing around is a high priority for today's youth -- whether it's in the classroom or on the practice field. His words -- taken from the post-game pep talk -- sounded like they could have come from the mouth of one of our teachers, with few changes. One minute you're giving instructions, the next they ask what to do.

The Saints were caught offsides four times in the first half. They bobbled balls and fumbled footballs. Twice they had too many players in the backfield. Bungled plays accounted for at least four of the Hillcrest TDs, Zach said.

If you don't know where the chess pieces go or how they move, then it will be hard to beat a chess master.

By most analyses, it would have been hard for Lighthouse, with generally smaller players and fewer seniors, to have won this game.

"My number one thing was to stop the inside run," Zach said. "If we could have stopped the inside run, we could have won the game, but we couldn't stop the inside run."

Hillcrest of Thousand Oaks has developed into something of a rival through the years with both schools -- same named "Saints" -- vying for the upper hand with roughly even teams. But in the last five or so years, Hillcrest has held the upper hand.

Lighthouse had trouble moving the ball on offense. Only two or three players were of the caliber, and it was those players who combined in three plays to make LCA's only TD in the second half. First, junior Levi Photenhauer got some decent yards on a kickoff return.

Then, the Santa Monica team threw to junior Marcus Scribner, who, recovering (miraculously?) from a season-ending injury, apparently caught Hillcrest off guard because he hadn't featured much in the first half. Scribner ran up the sideline to put Lighthouse within striking distance.

Finally, a sailing missile sent to speed boat Levi cruising deep into Hillcrest territory brought 6 points and saved a measure of respectability for the visitors in the game played in Simi Valley.

Junior Garret Lahood was throwing laser precise passes and making some great runs until he was hit with a crowd-gasping tackle that sent him twirling through the air. He had to be carried off the field.

The Lighthouse is 5-3 in season, a decent season for a school of 45 students.

Here's Lighthouse's season-ending victory over Brethren Christian of Huntington Beach. Read about the lightning-interrupted first half of Lighthouse's game against East Valley High and its Monday second half conclusion. Read about LCA's loss to Calvary Baptist La Verne. Here's an article about how sidelined team captain willed the Saints to victory over Cal Lutheran HS of Wildomar. This is the article of how LCA powerhouse Marcus Scribner was injured and how the Saints beat Teach Academy anyhow. This article talks about how Coach Zach Scribner lost his house but won two games. Read about how one player learned to have a good attitude as LCA overcame Discovery Prep. Lighthouse Christian Academy opened with a loss here.