Injury of key player doesn't slow Lighthouse football

The train was not to be stopped, even when the locomotive -- running back Marcus Scribner -- was stretchered off the field seconds before halftime.

Lighthouse Christian Academy won its third straight game of 8-man football Friday night against Teach Academy of Technologies in Long Beach. The Santa Monica Christian school powered a 44-0 win.

"We've been talking about being a family, and we had some things happen tonight," offensive coordinator Justin Kayne told his team. "We rose to the occasion. We were a family. You guys fought for each other. Offense was great, but hats off to defense tonight, you guys played a heck of a job on defense."

The Saints appeared unstoppable throughout the first half. Junior Marcus Scribner combined sheer power and muscle with bursts of speed and opponent-befuddling stutter steps. As the halftime whistle neared, the Saints were 10 yards away from adding to their 30 points.

Then it happened. A Rams lineman pulled him down. On replays, it looked like he fell on Marcus' foot and maybe bent the leg at the knee. As Marcus tumbled on the ground, his kneecap struck another defensive player.

Whatever the cause of injury, he writhed and moaned. The game had to be stopped while an ambulance was called as parents, grandparents, coaches and fans prayed.

Recognizing that the Saints had lost a key player, the Rams came out hoping to turn the tide of the game and very nearly scored, but African-born Mosie Bowen intercepted in the end zone to kickstart a Lighthouse drive to the opposing 10 yard line.

Junior Garret Lahood, however, couldn't break through on 4th down, and the Rams again surged forward. Their quarterback made a desperate dash for 25 years, and Teach Academy cheerleaders were screaming for the comeback.

It was not to be. Newbie player Jeri Ballard snuck in from behind on a pass to pick. It was his first year at Lighthouse and his first year playing competitive high school ball, but he came off like a pro.

"I was working with Coach Lucas (Moraida) all week, and he worked me so hard," Jeri said. "I got one-on-one with him. I just knew what to do. It was instinct."

Immediately, Lighthouse passed to Junior Levi Photenhauer -- aka Flash -- who burned his coverage, caught the ball and pulled away for another TD.

What happened to the undermanned team that used to lose to bigger schools? Stick figures grew, worked out constantly and turned into the cast of the Justice League. Freshman became bulky juniors.

Lighthouse is recovering its football legacy. Its founder, Pastor Rob Scribner (Marcus' grandfather) played for the Rams four years when they were in L.A. the first time. As his Lighthouse Church School grew and underwent mitosis to birth the high school, Pastor Rob naturally added a sports program that his beefy sons and their friends manned. Twice they were runners-up in CIF.

As the sensation player of the game who stymied the Rams efforts to turn the tide, Jeri had every right to revel in the glory of his interception, but he didn't. His thoughts were in the hospital bed with Marcus.

"We were thinking about how we want Marcus to react to this game. We wanted him to be proud of us," Jeri said. "We wanted the other team to know that we're still here. We wanted to win in our hearts."

Here's Lighthouse's season-ending victory over Brethren Christian of Huntington Beach. Here's LCA's playoff hopes-dashing game against Hillcrest. Read about the lightning-interrupted first half of Lighthouse's game against East Valley High and how they finalized the victory the next Monday. 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 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.