It took the Evangel Lightning just 1 minute and 13 seconds to take the lead over the cross-town rival Hope Christian School Eagles, and that lead never subsided as the Lightning cruised to dominating victory, 67-14.

Although the game was delayed an hour due to having no referees, the Lightning quickly made up for lost time on the opening drive when Jakan Sylestine connected on a 35-yard pass to put Evangel on top, 6-0.

After holding the Eagles on downs, the Lightning went right back to work on a fake field goal pass from Stephen Davis to Michael Entrekin to go up 12-0.

On Hope’s second drive of the quarter, the game’s third unsportsmanlike penalty was called, resulting in the ejection of Evangel’s Cameron Cohill.

The Eagles quickly took advantage when Luke Mahan took the quarterback sneak into the end zone to cut the deficit to 12-8 following Zac Hughes’ two-point conversion run.

But that would be as close as the Eagles would get.

The Lightning added four more scores in the second quarter, including a 20-yard pass from Sylestine to Entrekin, a 60-yard run by Sylestine, a 45-yard pass from Sylestine to Hunter Burridge and a 6-yard pass from Sylestine to Davis to close out the half 39-8.

The third quarter was much like the second, with the Lightning added three more touchdowns, including touchdown runs of 37 and 2 yards by Sylestine and a 55-yard run by Burridge, to go up 60-8.

Each team tacked on one more score in the final quarter.

Defensively, Auston Sullivan and A.J. Richardson each had an interception for the Lightning, while Brock Boyd finished with a pick for the Eagles.