Patriots Fall at Lighthouse

If the Christ Prep Patriots came in to tonight's game as heavy underdogs, someone forgot to tell them. CPA played a tough, physical game against Lighthouse Christian (Springfield, Mo.) and had the Chargers on the ropes most of the evening, but eventually fell 14-6 in the contest, held at Willard High School in Willard, Mo.

Neither team scored in the first quarter, which was the first indication that the Patriots had come to play. CPA had not shutout their opponent during the first period in any of their nine previous 2012 games.

The Patriots got on the board early in the second quarter on a Timothy Finley 38 yard field goal. Lighthouse struck back, however, and drove deep into Patriot territory before rushing for a one yard TD. After the PAT, Lighthouse led 7-3. The Patriots added another Finley field goal later in the second quarter, this time from 28 yards, and drew to within one (7-6) at halftime.

The teams traded possessions and turnovers during most of the second half as CPA consistently delivered big plays on defense. The game still stood at 7-6 until late in the game as Lighthouse was driving. Since Lighthouse was burning up clock and threatening to score anywa, the Patriots let them run into the end zone in hopes of getting the ball back with enough time to get back in the game. It was a good idea, but CPA only had about 30 seconds to work with and failed to gain enough ground to threaten.  The game ended there with the a Charger win.

Quarterback Timothy Finley was 10-18 passing for 146 yards and two interceptions. Davis White caught four of those passes and totaled 47 receiving yards. Tanner Metzdorf had three receptions for 24 yards while Chase Statmatis had two for 45 yards and Levi Mann had one for 30.

The Patriots didn't fare as well on the ground. They rushed as a team for 52 yards on 29 carries, many of those coming on busted plays or from Finley being forced to leave the pocket and run. Tanner Metzdorf led the Patriots in rushing with 17 yards on five carries.

The Patriots delivered a season high 88 tackles on defense. Josiah Thill led all defenders with 13 tackles. Regan Hurley added ten while Cameron Blair and Chase Stamatis had eight tackles a piece. Tanner Metzdorf and David Schilling had seven tackles a piece. Timothy Finley had one interception and a fumble recovery while Josiah Thill also had a fumble recovery.

Last night's game marked the conclusion of the regular season for both teams. Lighthouse finished an excellent 7-2 season while CPA finished at 3-7. Both teams will travel in less than two weeks to Panama City, Florida to compete in the National Homeschool Football Championships.

Follow this link https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/113773381929590803444/albums/5806669334923056897              to view pictures from the game.