Lightning strike Barbarians, 34-0

The Shell Lightning continued on the path of the unbeaten as they battered the short-handed Barbarians with an even mix of running and passing to earn their fifth consecutive victory of the year in convincing fashion with a 34-0 shutout at the CPA Airport Field on Saturday in front of a crowd of screaming fans.

A few of Shell’s starters were on the sidelines as Clas Ngeskebei quarterbacked the Lightning down the field for five scores with plenty of help from his bruising backs and offensive line.

Ngeskebei finished the game 10-of-18 for 124 yards through the air with a touchdown and an interception, and he used his legs on a naked bootleg in the closing moments to run in the game’s final score as well.

The clutch QB didn’t have to do all of the work himself as Jeff Boyer and Roger Tudela combined for 131 yards on the ground. Tudela averaged 8.1 yards per carry as he scrambled for 71 yards on eight carries while Boyer plugged away for 60 hard yards on 15 rushes and broke the plane for three touchdowns.

The bodybuilding back also caught a pass for 14 yards, but he was not the featured receiver in Ngeskebei’s offense as that role was filled nicely by George Lieto. The hard charging multi-purpose player reeled in five passes for 60 yards and added punting, kicking off, recovering fumbles, and playing a solid cover corner to his resume.

Lieto attacked the game from all angles, as did new receiving threat Shayne Villanueva, who caught three passes for 39 yards and a touchdown.

Villanueva has mostly been used as lineman during the season, but he was thrust into the passing game before halftime when he brought down a 19-yarder, and fellow newbie John Aldan also saw first time action when Ngeskebei found him on an 11-yard pick-up.

The Lightning offensive machine gained a total of 283 yards for the day, while Joe Ocampo and the defense held the Barbarians to less than a 10th of that at 28 yards.

Ocampo finished the day with 1.5 sacks on quarterback Alvin Atalig—who spent much of the day running for his life. With the Barbarians’ ground game averaging a loss of four yards per attempt, Atalig took to the air to complete 5-of-10 passes for 64 yards, but the Black and Gold got some help from game breaker Syl Teregeyo who found Kelvin Fitial on a 35-yard strike early on in the second half. Unfortunately for their fans, the Barbarians were unable to muster anything more than flashes of greatness as they suited up less than 20 players for the game.

The Lightning got the ball rolling early as Boyer plunged into the end zone on a two-yard run to cap their second drive before Tudela picked up the two-point conversion for the 8-0 lead.

After holding the Barbarians to a three and out, the Lightning struck again when Ngeskebei found Aldan and Villanueva for respective 11- and 19-yard pass before handing the ball off to Boyer for an eight-yard touchdown run. Tudela took the ball across the plane for the two-point conversion to up the score to 16-0 with little more than four minutes remaining in the first half.

The Barbarians attacked with their most threatening drive of the day when they got the ball back as they were knocking on the door at the 17-yard line before stalling out with an incomplete pass on fourth down just before the end of the half.

After the break, the Lightning scored on their second possession of the third quarter when Ngeskebei found Villanueva out of the corner of his eye all alone in the left side of end zone for an eight-yard score, and while they missed the conversion attempt, fortune shone upon them as they recovered the ball on the ensuing kickoff.

None of the Barbarians picked up the rolling football, and a Lightning coverman was happy to pick it up. They also picked up their fourth touchdown on the ensuing drive as Boyer ran in from six yards out for his third of the day.

It didn’t get any easier for the Barbarians as the Lightning battered Atalig behind the line until Shell got the ball back on the four-yard line, and after a pair of errant pass attempts, Ngeskebei took the ball in to his own hands and ran in for the final score.

The CFL takes a break this weekend as the players, coaches, and organizers gear up for Saturday’s election, but the Shell Lightning will return to the field on Saturday, Nov. 12, when they cross the channel for a night game with the Typhoon in Tinian at 7:30pm.