LOCKPORT — Lightning struck twice in the same place on Saturday — first in the form of a high school football weather delay at Max D. Lederer Field, then in the form of Lockport senior tailback David Fluellen.
Fluellen thundered for 260 yards and four touchdowns on just 17 carries, leading the Lions to a 42-14 victory over winless Kenmore West.
“When his motor gets running, he’s hard to stop,” said Ken West head coach Rich Harris, after watching Fluellen set Lockport’s all-time rushing record and be crowned Homecoming king.
“I thought we took it to them defensively to start the game. The bottom line is, after the weather time out there, they changed their offense up and Fluellen got cranked up.”
The visiting Blue Devils (0-5 overall, 0-4 Class AA North) dominated at the start, holding Flu to just a handful of yards and taking a 7-0 lead on a 25-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Marcus Lobdell (10-of-20 passing for 100 yards; 17 carries for 92 yards rushing) to senior Zach Bouley.
Mother Nature stepped in after that with a formidable lightning and thunder storm, forcing officials to delay the game for about an hour, while players and fans alike took shelter.
Lockport looked like a different team when play finally resumed, rolling off six straight touchdowns, including four by Fluellen on runs of 40, 23, 94 and 51 yards.
“They came out with a few looks we hadn’t seen before,” said Lions head coach Greg Bronson, whose team improved to 2-1 in AA North and 3-2 overall.
“We made some adjustments, even before the break and a credit to our guys that they were able to make the necessary changes.”
Fluellen’s final TD run pushed him ahead of his older brother Jhamal (1994 graduate, 3,591 career yards) into first place all-time for career yards at LHS.
“He couldn’t be here today, but I know Jhamal’s happy for me and would say that he’s glad we’re keeping the record in the family,” David Fluellen said.
“Our linemen did a great job. Guys were holding their blocks today and running down field hitting people.”
Lions junior quarterback Kevin Bronson (3-for-4, 76 yards) tossed two touchdown passes on the day, a 28-yarder to senior wide receiver Jake Chenez and a 30-yarder to senior tight end Luke Rankie.
Rankie, an all-star linebacker on defense, also broke a significant LHS football record on Saturday, becoming the school’s all-time leading tackler.
“After last week’s game, I knew I was close to the record, so it was good getting it off my shoulders,” Rankie said.
LHS place kicker Brian Orzechowski booted six straight extra points, while Kyle Davis, Troy Koss and Daniel Wik added fumble recoveries.
The Blue Devils closed the scoring with under a minute to go when sophomore running back Martin Bailey ran it in from four yards out. Senior Nate Stock was 2-for-2 on Ken West PATs.
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H.S. FOOTBALL: Lightning strike sparks Lions
Fluellen, Rankie set all-time marks as LHS rolls Ken West 42-14.
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