300

This was not King Leonidas' battle. It was Gideon's.

After witnessing Lighthouse' undermanned but courageous stand against his team, Downey's coach Mike Nuño compared his Santa Monica opponents to the Old Testament hero who vanquished the Midianites with an army of just 300.

"You're like Gideon's warriors," Nuño told them after Saturday's game. "You guys are the 300 that stayed and say, 'Man, we're going to go out there and do this thing.' It takes heart. You guys battle and battle and battle. You guys come out with a small group year after year after year and fight until the end."

If Lighthouse Christian Academy got compared to Gideon's 300, it lost like Leonidas' 300, overwhelmed by the endless swarming hordes of the Persian Empire. Despite a late first-half, valiant but quixotic surge, the Saints lost 21-62 against Calvary Chapel Christian School of Downey in CIF's Southern Section 8-man football league.

"I coached 16 players one year, and it was the hardest thing I've ever done," Nuño said. "You come out with 10 or 12 players. I applaud you guys for that."

LCA and the Grizzlies were roughly even at the beginning of the game as players sized each other up, identified strengths and weaknesses and sought to exploit opportunities. Realizing their superior firepower, the Grizzlies began to pull away, making the score 6-24.

But then a short kickoff gave Lighthouse a short field to drive for a touchdown. Senior Marcus Scribner caught a pass in the 2nd quarter for a touchdown to make it -- with the subsequent 2 point conversion -- 14-24.

Downey discovered they could essentially block Lighthouse as long as they needed to make the long bomb pass and quickly added a TD.

When Lighthouse tried to reply, the Grizzlies stymied their advance. Despite a dazzling one-handed catch and subsequent power scramble from senior Hosea Ashcraft, the Saints were unable to capitalize and had to punt.

The Grizzlies shot their effective long pass down the right side to 1st and goal. It seemed they would pull away definitively in the scoring. But sophomore David Hutchinson tackled a running back for a 2-yard loss, and two passes bounced off the receivers hands brought an unexpected stop to the Downey steamroll.

Deep in its own territory, Lighthouse had the ball. After three plays, the Saints punted.

When the Grizzlies closed in for another TD, they fumbled and the Saints recovered.

Then a spectacular 70-yard pass to Marcus made the score 21-30, when Luke Mammana kicked the ball through the goal posts.

With just seconds to half time, the Grizzlies were frustrated by a red zone tackle by Marcus.

The momentum had seemed to shift.

"They are starting to break down," cackled at half time an excited LCA offensive coordinator, Justin Kayne. "This game is going to be won by whoever wants it more."

"I've never seen us play this way before under stress," agreed defensive coordinator Lucas Moraida.

But the optimism gave way to injuries. Hosea hyper-extended his elbow joint and was limited in his effectiveness. Then Marcus smashed his shin and also went off.

The Saints became a ragtag army of newbies and underclassmen.

Without their powerhouses, the supporting cast had to step up and assume unaccustomed roles. Kid brother Rob Scribner, a freshman, suddenly became a target for the pass. Sophomore Steven Lahood had to accept a quick promotion to linebacker. Junior Josie Bowen, who has shied away from prominent roles, found himself thrust into kick returner and full back.

Suddenly, the pawns found themselves as queens, bishops and rooks.

They had to step up.

And step up they did.

Rob became an offensive threat. Steven made the needed tackles. And Josie... well, Josie became the Hulk.

Yes, the Hulk.

First he caught a kick off amazingly over his head with just his hands. Then he ran the ball so strong that the entire Downey team was needed to pile up on him. They threw themselves at him, smashing in from every side.

He didn't get hurt or intimidated. He got angry.

Josie uttered a fierce guttural growl. Bystanders got the palpable sensation that Josie would burst out of his uniform and turn green and that the the Grizzlies would morph into cute cubs.

A simmering volcano was about to erupt.

But before it could, the final whistle blew.

The Saints had lost. Three seniors were injured. Their band of Gideon's warriors limped off the field and went to In-N-Out.

Lighthouse fans felt they were going to see great things from the players who were called up for extraordinary service under duress.