Heaven's hound

By Michael Ashcraft --

Up until now, the Lighthouse Christian Academy's mascot has been the Saint Bernard. (Get it? LCA personnel and teams are the "Saints.")

At Tuesday's game LCA's mascot became the hound.

That's because sophomore Morgan Miles was unleashed into the game to shadow, harass, block and otherwise make the life miserable of Glendale Adventist Academy's star, Daniel Garcia, who was crucifying Lighthouse. Oh he hounded him.

Daniel, rightly wearing a #11 jersey, was the driving force behind the lopsided loss. He could shoot, assist, defend, play midfield, attack. His throw ins, free kicks and shots were veritable rockets. There'd be no surprise if he eventually wound up working for SpaceX.

The 6'2" senior was wreaking havoc until Coach Hosea Ashcraft threw on LCA's secret weapon, Morgan. He's not the team captain, but on Tuesday he was Captain Morgan.

He pursued and pushed, he clattered his cleats at Daniel's feet. He leaned against him and bullied him. When Daniel would walk, Morgan trudged alongside; when Daniel would run, Morgan was on him like bad breath. Daniel couldn't shake his tail.

The plan worked. With Morgan as his minder, Daniel was limited in his capacity as playmaker. A white belt can't be expected to beat a black belt, but he can get in his way and hamper him.

At half time, it was only 0-3, with Lighthouse creating danger repeatedly.

Zeke Young swept in some well-placed shots, as did Karine Keyser. Midfielder Andrew Morales was keeping the Cougar's keeper busy with through balls and over-the-top balls. Liyat Belay, a volleyball player, almost got a goal.

The Lighthouse defense was kept busy too. Centermids Zion Jenkins and Owen Toomey had their hands full stymying the league's second place team.

Goalie Nile Hosni made some incredible saves. When the Lighthouse wall forgot they were playing soccer and thought they were playing dodge ball and ducked a free kick, Nile attentively scooped it up.

But then in the second half, something terrible happened. Morgan got gassed.

He released Daniel because he couldn't keep up with Daniel, and Daniel scored again.

Eventually, Coach pulled Morgan off the field, and the Cougars ran up the score, 10 goals in all. Lighthouse got 0 despite some effective playmaking. Zeke and Christian Boatwright were unlucky to hit the post.

Some of the sloppiness that has befuddled LCA raised its ugly head again. Kids who steadfastly believe they are Messi and can win by one-on-ones instead of passing, again tried to prove themselves Messi. They again showed they are NOT Messi.

The kid who thinks he is Cristiano Ronaldo taking shots from far range, again proved himself to NOT be Cristiano Ronaldo. His poor decision to shoot instead of pass resulted in turnovers.

Coach Hosea has to feel satisfied with the showing of his team. Daniel had some good words for Morgan.

"He did a good job," Daniel admits.

The writer of this article teaches journalism at the Lighthouse Christian Academy. His son, Hosea, is the coach of the soccer team.