Lightning still unbeaten

From the under the lights to under the sun, the gridiron gladiators of the Commonwealth Football League returned from their previous campaign in Tinian to the CPA Airport Field on Saturday morning as the Shell Lightning maintained their perfect record with a 22-0 win over the Barbarians.

Clas Ngeskebei led the Lightning to their third straight win against no losses as Shell starting quarterback Brian Hahn was sidelined with injuries, and the kid from Tinian did so by completing 6-of-20 passes for 103 yards and by gaining 50 yards on the ground.

The Lightning started the game with a more conventional style approach to the offense, but as the game progressed, Hahn took the reigns off of Ngeskebei and allowed him to use the moves that helped the Chiefs win early in 2004.

Without question, Ngeskebei’s favorite target was George Lieto, as he found the long-armed receiver three times for 66 yards and a touchdown. Bolstered by a steady running game that accounted for 138 of the team’s combined 241 yards of offense, the Lightning attack went from slow and steady to rough and ready.

The Vick-like QB led all rushers on the day with an average of 6.3 yards per carry, while Donny Fejeran carried the ball eight times for 44 yards, the tandem of Roger Tudela and Jeff Boyer combined to grind out 51 hard yards on 15 carries.

The Barbarians didn’t experience the same success on the ground as game-breaking Syl Teregeyo managed 28 yards on eight carries, and quarterback Plasido Tagabuel completed 3-of-13 passes through the air for 48 yards—including a 32 yard strike to B.J. Tagabuel.

Penalties didn’t help the Barbarians either, as they were stung by the zebra bug for 78 yards on 11 infractions and a player ejection, while the Lightning went the wrong time six times for 40 yards.

After taking an 8-0 lead on Boyer’s two-yard plunge and Tudela’s two-point conversion, the Lightning struggled to find a groove against the hungry Barbarians defense as their quarterback took them into the half up by a touchdown.

With only 26 men on their sidelines, the Barbarians were looking strong with many players lining up on offense and defense, but the heat and exhaustion began to take its toll as the Lightning began to hit their stride late in the third quarter as Ngeskebei found Lieto all alone in the corner of the end zone for a 25-yard score that gave them a 14-0 lead.

They eventually got the ball back after the Barbarians failed to score and marched down field to the one-half yard line, but the Lightning could not punch through for a score deep into the red zone as Asterio Tawanpiy picked off an ill-conceived pass.

After the Barbarians drive stalled, Shell had possession of the pigskin 14 yards shy of the goal line, but time and again the Barbarians dug deep to find a way to stop the bolts as Tawanpiy made another big play when he recovered a fumble.

With “Plas Pass” on the sidelines, Owen Tagabuel came in to pass, but he was intercepted on the first play by Ed Nekaifes, and the Lightning were in business yet again.

With a shortage of soldiers, the Black and Gold eventually succumbed to the Lightning as Roger Tudela scored for Shell on a nine yard rumble up the middle with 2:49 remaining to give the Lightning their third score in the fourth quarter to seal the deal, 22-0.