Lightning 43 Raiders 7
Lacombe– It was close for two quarters, before the undefeated Hunting Hills Lightning took over in city high school football action Thursday.
In the end, they finished off the Lindsay Thurber Raiders 43-7, but it took a heroes’ effort to overcome the underdog’s fight.
“What happened in the first half was Lindsay Thurber played very, very hard, physical and good football,” Lightning head coach Kyle Sedgwick said.
“They have a lot of very good athletes in grade 12, that have a lot of pride. I could see it in their eyes after the game.
“We killed ourselves with silly penalties. Second half we stopped taking penalties and (it was) amazing what that did for us.”
With the score just 14-7 for the heavily favoured Lightning at half, the Hunting Hills combo of quarterback Brandon Rees and wide receiver Nathan Lavigne connected twice in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.
The first was a 15-yard screen pass and the second, a five-yard hook up in the flat.
“Brandon (Rees) threw the ball well. (Nathan) is just a big, athletic kid who just wants to play football at the next level and he’s doing whatever it takes to give himself that opportunity.
“He’s playing almost every snap on d-line too,” Sedgwick added.
Penalties plagued Hunting Hills in the opening 24 minutes and Raiders quarterback Sean Vandervlis took advantage.
He tied the game at seven on a one-yard run in the second quarter, and kept his team in it until Luc Lukalu ran the ball in for a four-yard touchdown late in the half.
Lukalu was a menace on the ground for a second straight week with two touchdowns and 159 yards rushing.
Sedgwick said some of that credit has to go to his veteran offensive line, which opened up holes all game long. “He’s naturally gifted. Today we relied on the run a little bit more. I was happy with his performance. Nice to see him get in the end zone a couple times too,” Sedgwick said.
Zac Sanderson also ran for a Lightning touchdown late in the game.
The Lacombe Rams will square off against the Notre Dame Cougars on Friday night under the lights at MEGlobal Athletic Park in Lacombe. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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