Schools
ZZ Top
Lighthouse Christian Academy's top two players connect for three touchdowns against New Design Charter School.
By Michael Ashcraft --
Bonnie and Clyde, Batman and Robin, Antman and Wasp, Sherlock Holmes and Watson.
Now, there is Zeke and Zion, or ZZ, on TOP of the LCA football team.
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"We are the duo," says Zeke Young, QB for the Lighthouse Saints, of his best friend and favored receiver Zion Jenkins.
Together the dyad hooked up pass and reception for three touchdowns Saturday for a decent first half showing against New Design Charter School of University Park, a game Lighthouse Christian Academy lost 18-62 because of a second half collapse.
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Zeke is a 125-pounder junior who was placed a quarterback because of his intelligence and because of his size. (You can't put him on the line because he's so small and maybe not the best receiver because he's so short. This is how decisions are made at a school of <50 kids).
Zion is a fearless and fast sophomore who leaves a burn on the turf once he catches the ball and shifts into fifth gear to run for the touchdown. He also ran mazy, twisty routes to make serious gains for Lighthouse.
At halftime, the game was not completely out of reach, the Saints losing 18-32.
The 2023 resurrected Saints football team (four years dormant) also saw highlights from Kirollos Abdalla (a 4th quarter sack), Tristan Keyser (35-yard kickoff return), Ben Lahood (solid tackling and bruising runs), Antonio Pellot (a kickoff return tackle deep in Cardinal territory).
Without a lot of beefy guys, the Saints make use of passing a spread-out offensive line to advance. On defense, they rely on intelligent reads and wrapping up legs for tackles.
But the first half heroics evaporated in the second half. As one ref observed, there were two Saints teams: the one that competed in the first half and the one that collapsed internally in the second half.
The Saints got stripped of the ball, intercepted, tackled and sacked. Its O-line was not blocking. They failed to recover a glaringly obvious fumble.
Perhaps the Saints rely on too few guys to do the major workload. When those guys get gassed, they make mistakes and lose their morale.
"We feel like we do good in the first half," Zeke says. "But something happens in the second half where we get tired and shut down. We just lose it. I don't know what it is. We get tired, and I think we get nervous."
Michael Ashcraft teaches journalism at the Lighthouse Christian Academy.
