Week One - So Far So Good for the Lions, Except for the Weather

In a game that took over 24 hours to complete, the Carterville Lions had a very good opening night(s) against the Benton Rangers. The weather turned a little nasty at the 10:17 mark of the second quarter and the stadium had to be cleared and everyone was informed to seek shelter. Not that the weather was severe, but there was lightning that was detected and that's all it takes. About 30 minutes after the delay, it was announced that the game would be postponed until Saturday night.

Things got off to a quick start as Lions' quarterback Harley Vaughn popped off an 80 yard touchdown run, virtually untouched off the left side. The Lions scored on their second possession as well as Vaughn showcased the throwing arm and hit Darien Miller on a 28 yard touchdown pass.

Coming in to the season, I think everyone knew that Vaughn had a very good passing game, but I don't know that everyone thought his running game would be so strong. Vaughn had 132 yards rushing, including another 43 yard TD in the game and threw for another 104 yards with a 24 yard touchdown pass to Justin Johnson. Brock Tuttle wrapped up the scoring for the Lions at the 8:18 mark of the forth quarter with a 5 yard TD run.

Overall, the Lions looked very well against the team that upset them one year ago. There would no upset as the starting defense for the Lions got the shutout. The second team did give up a 5 yard touchdown to Hamilton Page of the Rangers, making the final score 33-6. This was a good game for the Lions, as they were able to get the running game and the passing game going and the defense was tough all night long.

This Friday, the Lions will travel all of five miles to Herrin as the regular season series with the Herrin Tigers makes it's debut. It's hard to believe that this will be the first regular season football game against the cross county rival. I think it's fantastic that there will be bragging rights for either the Lions or Tigers....oh my!

SIDE NOTES

Online Stream -

One of the things I was very excited about coming in to the 2016 season, was that I would be live-streaming the football games. Last season I started live streaming basketball with the radio play-by-play included. It's fantastic to be able to let fans and family that do not live in the area see the game.

I have tested and tested and obsessed with making sure my stream would work correctly, and after being "almost 100%" sure it would work perfectly, well....it didn't. I was finally able to get it lined out and it turned out fine. Once again this week I am "almost 100%" sure I have it figured out for this weeks game. You can see the video of Saturday nights finale against Benton here. Make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel if you would. Once you do, any videos that I publish this season will show up in your Subscriptions feed. This makes it simple to keep up with the content you care about and that is Carterville Lions sports. You can even go to my webpage and view the game from there as well.

Injuries -

The Lions came out of the game relatively healthy. Darien Miller did ding up his ankle after taking a helmet. I understand that Markas Lazdinis started practicing this week. But it appears taht he is a week or two away from being able play. Once he comes back, look out. That will give incredible depth to the Lions running game with Brock Tuttle, Max Gray and Lazdinis.

Cartervlle Lions Athletic Booster Club -

The Lions were sporting new uniforms that were purchased by the Athletic Boosters. When I was down on the field before the game, they really stood out. And truthfully smelled much better than the old uniforms as well.

Also, it was the lightning detection system that the Booster Club purchased that alerted Brett Dial to the lightning in the area. I'm thankful that we have this equipment at the school complex. This equipment is used year round to help protect the kids not just at the high school but at Tri-C. If you remember it was a few years ago a student in Carbondale was struck by lightning and lost his life. This equipment can help prevent that happening and it's well worth the investment. And thanks to the booster club for all the things you do to help our athletic programs.

Carterville High School Basketball Golf Scramble -

On top of having a freshman football game on Saturday Morning and the varsity game being continued at 7 pm Saturday Night, the Lions managed to hold their basketball golf scramble during the afternoon.

I had a very great time and I think everyone did, even with a heat index over 100 degree all afternoon long. Girls Head Coach Matt Crain and new Boys basketball coach Shane Hawkins did a fantastic job and getting everything going. Plus a big thank you to all the volunteers that helped throughout the day as well. and props to AD Brett Dial for apparently being in three different places at the same time. I just wish I hadn't spent so much time hitting around/under/over the trees all afternoon long. But, I can't wait for next years scramble

As always, thanks for reading. Go Lions!

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