Stockton tops Everett 54-41
Sunday July 1, 2007
STOCKTON, Calif. – QB Evan Gray connected on 19 of 32 pass attempts for 296 passing yards and six touchdown passes, while kicker Alex Walls nailed a career-high four field goals as the Stockton Lightning downed the Everett Hawks in a 54-41 win in week 14 of arenafootball2 play, before 4,964 at Stockton Arena on Saturday night.
Stockton surpasses last season’s total of five wins with the victory and establishes a new Lightning record for wins in a season while staying in the hunt for an American Conference wild-card berth in the ArenaCup playoff race. The season sweep of Everett gives the Lightning a 3-2 edge in the all-time series.
The Hawks completed a successful opening drive just over three minutes in the first quarter to grab a 6-0 lead as QB Jason Campbell hit WR Phil Goodman up the right sideline for a 4-yard score to give Everett the early advantage. Stockton, however, would cut the Hawks lead in half on the ensuing drive as Walls’ field goal attempt from 28-yards out was a success to make the score 6-3.
The Lightning would play stingy defense for the remainder of the period, resulting in a fumble recovery off Goodman from an Everett drive deep in Lightning territory as the quarter concluded. Stockton would capitalize on the Hawks’ turnover with Walls leveling the score at 6-6 early in the second quarter with a 23-yard field goal.
Everett regained the lead on their next possession as Campbell connected with a wide-open Goodman for a 32-yard touchdown score to give the Hawks a 13-6 lead at 2:32. The back-and-forth scoring trend continued in the latter half of the quarter as Lightning QB Evan Gray hit WR Sale Key for a 3-yard touchdown score at 8:28 to make the score 13-13.
Stockton would grab the lead before the end of the half, making the most of another Hawks turnover late in the frame. After DB Diamond Francies intercepted a Campbell pass attempt in the Lightning end zone, Gray engineered a drive downfield to bring Stockton into field-goal range. Walls would connect on his third attempt of the half as time expired to give Stockton a 16-13 lead at the break.
The Lightning offense struck early in the third quarter, capping their opening drive with a 18-yard touchdown strike from Gray to Key at the 1:02 mark to put Stockton ahead 23-13. As the Stockton defense continued to stymie Everett’s best efforts to move the ball (including back-to-back sacks by Lightning FB Jason Hunt), Walls would hit his career-high fourth field goal on the night, a 29-yarder, at 11:30 to give the Lightning a 26-13 advantage.
The Hawks narrowed Stockton’s lead to 26-20 on their next possession as Campbell hit a sprawling LaMonte’ Jones with a nine-yard touchdown pass with 2:20 remaining to bring Everett back to within one score of tying the ballgame.
WR Clarence Cunningham tallied Cutters Catch of the Game honors on the following drive, connecting on a 16-yard touchdown pass against the left wall for the score, after Gray’s pass deflected off the helmet of DB Larue Burley. Cunningham swiped the loose football near the wall and broke a legion of tacklers at the goal line to put the Lightning up 33-20 after the extra-point.
The Hawks, however, managed to fight back once again with Goodman’s third touchdown reception of the game to make the score 33-26. Gray responded with a touchdown strike of his own on Stockton’s next possession, connecting with Cuningham over the middle for a 32-yard score and a 41-26 lead.
After Everett cut the Lightning advantage to 41-34 on a LaMonte Jones touchdown reception and a successful two-point conversion, Gray floated a pass up the middle to WR Kenyatte Morgan for a 16-yard touchdown score and a 48-34 scoreline. The Hawks responded with WR Josh Richey finding himself on the receiving end of an seven-yard touchdown pass from Campbell with 49 seconds remaining, breaking a Morgan tackle to make the score 48-41.
Gray would save his best pass on the night for the Lightning’s final drive with a perfect strike to a diving Key in the corner of the end zone to cap the scoring at 54-41 and secure the victory for Stockton.
In his return to Stockton Arena for the first time since an off-season trade that sent the former Lightning receiver to Everett, Goodman tallied six catches for 76 yards and three touchdowns, while Richey tied an af2 record with eight consecutive 100-yard receiving games (2001 - Anthony Bright, Jacksonvile and 2006 - Kris Peters, Quad City) on an 11-catch, 107-receiving yard performance.
Cunningham led all Lightning receivers with seven catches for 158 receiving yards, while tallying a 258 all-purpose yards.
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- --
Everett Hawks... 6 7 7 21 - 41 Record: (3-9)
Stockton Lightning… 3 13 10 28 - 54 Record: (6-6)
Schutt Offensive Player of the Game: Alex Walls (Stockton)
U.S. Army Ironman of the Game: LaMonte’ Jones (Everett)
ADT Defensive Player of the Game: Jason Hunt (Stockton)
Cutters Catch of the Game: Clarence Cunningham (Stockton)
Attendance: 4,964
The Lightning hit the road on Saturday, July 7 for a critical week 15 matchup, taking on the Central Valley Coyotes at Selland Arena beginning at 7:00 p.m. The game can be heard live at 1420-AM KSTN and on the internet at www.stocktonlightning.com (online audio courtesy of SportsJuice.com).
Last season, the Lightning ranked third in af2 attendance with an average of 7,445 fans per home game. Season tickets, group tickets and individual tickets for the 2007 Lightning regular season are on sale now. For more information on season tickets, merchandise, or other information, please call the Lightning at (209) 373-1500 or visit www.stocktonlightning.com.
