Lightning can't overcome midgame lull

Published on May 11, 2008 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Stockton Lightning News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - Tonae Martin tallied two receiving and rushing touchdowns each and the Central Valley Coyotes scored 30 unanswered points between the second and third quarter to send the Stockton Lightning (1-6) to a 58-45 loss before a crowd of 2,671 at Selland Arena on Saturday, in week 7 of arenafootball2 play.

Hannibal Thomas led Lightning receivers with a game-high 112 receiving yards, career-high four touchdown catches and seven receptions. QB Chad Elliott posted his most effective game of the season, throwing for a season-high 266 yards on a 23-for-44 effort and posting five touchdown passes.

Elliott threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Thomas in the second quarter to surpass the 18,000-passing yard mark for his career.

Thomas had two touchdown receptions that bookended two Central Valley scores in the first quarter to help deadlock the game at 14-14. In the opening 15 minutes, DeOnte Taylor ran back a 52-yard interception for a Central Valley touchdown and their first lead of the game at 14-7 with 5:13 left in the opening quarter.

Martin, who was crowned Schutt Offensive Player of the Game, opened the scoring in the second quarter with 11:37 left on a 17-yard touchdown reception, answered by Elliott's milestone throw with 8:33 remaining on a 35-yard bomb to Thomas at the left side. Just 6:01 later, Alex Walls restored the Lightning lead at 24-21 on a 28-yard field goal.

The Coyotes then scored five consecutive times around the halftime mark, led by three touchdown receptions from WR Jason Barnes. The Central Valley lead grew as big as 30 points when Barnes hauled in a 22-yard lob from backup QB Patrick Josten, with 22 seconds left in the third quarter, who was filling in for benched starter Joe Ayoob.

After being shutout for the third quarter, the Lightning responded with a furious rally by scoring 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. Thomas finished an eight-yard lob to the left corner of the end zone with 10:18 left, followed by Elliott's one-yard keeper to the right side with 4:13 left to close the gap to 51-36. WR B'Jay Jones snared a 25-yard strike by Elliott at the left corner of the end zone to shorten the deficit to 51-45 with 33 seconds left.

Central Valley's Wes Borba recovered the ensuing onside kick which set-up Martin's one-yard keeper to put the game away at 58-45 with 26 seconds left.

The Lightning, whose 45 points was the team's highest-scoring output since a 46-32 win at Tri-Cities in week 1, fell to 1-6 in the lifetime series against the Coyotes and are now 0-3 lifetime at Selland Arena.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



arenafootball2 Stories from May 11, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central