On The Other Side Of Pain

By Michael Ashcraft --

For many, the first appearance of pain is time to quit. That's what Nile Hosni did. He got knocked over after making a catch and a run. He needed an MRI, he said. He was out for the rest of the season.

But then something happened. Team captain Zion Jenkins gave a little talk at the pep rally Friday. You play for your teammates. You don't play for yourself. Your brothers need you, he said.

Nile came to the game Saturday. He made an impact.

"Pain is all in your head," said Zion, who never goes off the field. "You can always push through."

Lighthouse Christian Academy players were throwing themselves in harm's way, tackling triple cheeseburger guys. They kept slamming through the wall of dogged defenders. They ignored the pain, inflicted pain on the Wildcats and, as a result, beat Villanova Preparatory School of Ojai 50-32.

"Playing through pain is kind of part of life," said QB Justice Neos. "We're all hurting because there's only nine of us. You have to push through it."

On the other side of pain is everything good in life. Beyond the pain of rejection are leaderboard sales. Beyond the pain of risking all to launch a business is a successful life. Beyond the pain of divorce is a start-over on life.

People who run from pain medicate, escape and can't cope.

This is the value of football, and the Saints learned Saturday to not quit due to pain but press on to victory.

"You gotta push past it and continue fighting hard no matter what it is," Nile said. "When it comes to the brothership, you gotta put in the work and you gotta be there."

Villanova opened the scoring on the second play with a big guy running up the middle, but the Saints responded with a TD and a conversion. Stopping Wildcats #11 and #4 was a headache for the Saints the whole game, but they kept working at it and made progress to grind down Villanova.

On offense, Justice made powerful, bruising runs to wear down defenders. The sophomore scored five touchdowns.

The second quarter was a wild free-for-all. The Wildcats made two fumbles recovered by the Saints, who for their part threw two interceptions.

In the third quarter, the game became a match of running game. The Wildcats repeatedly gave the ball to #11 and #4, who were big beasts who kept their feet moving. Lighthouse ran mostly with Zion and Justice.

The Saints appeared to wear down their more numerous opponents. Zion scored two touchdowns and a conversion. Shaughnessy Neos scored a conversion. Kiro Abdalla tackled the quarterback in the end zone for a safety.

Having a big man like Nile on the line tilted the game in favor of Lighthouse.