Like father, like son

By Michael Ashcraft --

From the wild screams and cheers from fans, you'd think Lighthouse Christian Academy won at game's end Friday night against Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies in 8-man football.

No, they didn't win.

But they had wins -- significant wins. They scored two touchdowns and stymied the powerful Knights' offense in the second half.

Clutch player Zion Jenkins, a junior, found his feet. Fleet feet.

"This game I felt more confident. I had a game under my belt," Zion said.

On a kickoff return, the Knights were lucky to barely catch by three fingers Zion's ankle. He was the last player between Zion and an open field for a touchdown. Zion went flying, did a flip in the air and landed skillfully in a roll. He popped up ready for action.

The Knights weren't so lucky halfway through the second half when The Flash (Zion) hit the hole and turned on the afterburner for LCA's first TD of the season.

His dad, Ben Jenkins, now a detective with the Santa Monica Police Department, looked on approvingly. When Ben was a kid at Lighthouse, Ben was part of LCA's original football team (1995-97) started by LA Rams player and pastor Rob Scribner that went to state championship in his senior year in 1997 (he played QB and linebacker).

Ben went on to served in Korea in 1999-2001 in the U.S. Army, where he started becoming muscularly massive, before joining the SMPD, where he put his tackling skills to use apprehending suspects.

Like father, like son.

Zion wasn't the only one to find his feet. Actually, the whole team found its feet.

After losing stingingly to Hillcrest 0-58 last week, the Saints looked like a whole different set of guys. They made tackles and showed aggression. They ground down the Knights. It might have been a different score if Sherman Oaks CES didn't have Lamar Jackson himself at QB.

On offense, the O-line opened holes and the Saints hit them hard. LCA quarterback Zeke Young, a senior, punched through, as did Andrew Morales, a sophomore, who's a hockey player and seems to be applying the cuts and physicality to great effect on the gridiron.

Antonio Pellot, Nile Hosni and Alex Brick made tackles and moved lines like a bulldozer. It's not their fault that the Knights had some 220 lb players. Christian Boatwright knocked a pass down on defense using his helmet.

"In Game 1 it was our first game, so we were figuring out a lot of things," said Coach Justin Kayne. "In Game 2, we worked on a lot of things we were struggling with in Game 1. We made corrections in practice. They executed. We hit the hole hard and didn't give time for the defense to react."

Sometimes it's useful to compare school populations because from them teams draw their talent pool; CES has 1,800 kids (grades 4-12), LCA has 40. CES's football roster has 27 players.

Not unexpectedly, the Knights dominated -- but only for the first half. They made four touchdowns and one 2-point conversion, while the Saints were scoreless.

At half time, LCA coaches made adjustments and challenged the boys to give more of themselves. It was their second game of the season, and they were shedding jitters.

LCA made some significant tackles and limited the Knights to two TDs.

On offense, Zion broke through.

The Saints fans went wild. It was the first TD of the season and augured good things to come. The progress was evident.

But the boys on the ball weren't satisfied with just one consolation. They were hungry for more.

On one drive, they came successfully within striking distance but saw their dreams frustrated by an end zone interception. Their passing game was below par. Only their running game was working.

In the last minutes of the game, the Saints made one last push for a TD. They made mad dashes with the ball to pick up yards. They got within striking distance once again. There were just seconds on the clock (the game clock was not working, so it was only the referee's clock that marked the end of play).

Zeke threw the ball to Zion, who ran out and was open. Zion's fingers clutched the pigskin and didn't let go as he scrambled across the end zone corner.

He repeated the trick on the opposite side for a 2-point conversion. It was 14-40.

Why did the Saints fans go so wild? Because the demonstrated progress augurs possibility for future games.

Related content: No more Mr. Mopey (LCA's Game 1)

About this reporter: Michael Ashcraft teaches journalism at the Lighthouse Christian Academy of Santa Monica.