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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

GATLINBURG, Ten. – For the second straight year, the Evangel Christian Lightning got the season started in style with a win in the Gatlinburg Black Bear Brawl, beating North Carolina’s Arendell Parrott Academy Patriots 38-19 on Saturday, Aug. 10.

However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Lightning as they had to battle back from the Patriots’ first punch.

After starting the game in plus-territory, Arendell Parrott sent up a rainbow pass on the third play of the game to hit its receiver in stride in the left corner of the end zone. That 25-yard touchdown and ensuing extra point put the Patriots up 7-0 ahead of Evangel’s opening drive.

The Lightning took a few plays to get going on offense, but they overcame a fourth down spot with a quarterback run by Kemp Swords to move the sticks.

Shortly after, Evangel caught a break with a false start on the defense. That next play, Swords got a couple of blocks on the end of the line and used the open space from the 100-yard field to turn on the jets and score a 49-yard rushing touchdown.

While the Lightning were without a field goal kicker for the opening game, their 2-point run up the middle gave them an 8-7 lead, and they never looked back from there.

On Arendell Parrott’s next offensive play, Eli Black smothered a pitch to the outside with a big tackle. That tackle was so impactful that it forced the ball loose, and Nick Cloud quickly landed on it to recover the fumble and set his offense up on the Patriots 10.

Cloud capitalized on his own turnover to score on a two-yard rushing touchdown up the middle to extend the lead to 14-7.

Arendell Parrott shifted to a run-based attack from there. While it succeeded on the first play of the next drive with a 16-yard run to Evangel’s 32, the next four did not go the same way as the Lightning forced a turnover on downs.

With just under three minutes left in the first quarter, Swords saw Will Welch one-on-one deep and tried to make the connection. It didn’t work the first time around, but when the exact same scenario developed on second down, the two connected for a 68-yard touchdown.

A two-point conversion run by Swords made the lead 22-7, but the Patriots responded on their next drive.

On third down deep in its own territory, Arendell Parrott’s running back got a hole on the right side of the line and pulled away for the 68-yard rushing touchdown. The Lightning blocked the ensuing extra point to keep the score at 22-13 going into the second quarter.

The Patriots nearly got a chance to pull even closer after they stripped the ball on the third play of Evangel’s drive, but the Lightning defense stood tall. Arendell Parrott’s next three plays put it a yard behind where it started and forced a punt.

Evangel then started a long drive that took nearly five minutes off the clock. Cade Joiner set up his offense for success with a 29-yard run off a pitch to get down to the 28.

Later in the drive, Swords nearly faced disaster with two unblocked rushers in his face. However, it was all part of the plan as Ethan Stallings popped off the line and past the defenders to catch Swords’ heave, and he finished off the trick play with a 19-yard touchdown.

With the two-point conversion to Welch a success and the lead now 30-13, the Lightning defense forced another three-and-out to give the offense a shot to score once more with 2:23 remaining in the half.

A penalty on the first play nearly stopped the chance before it started, but after working its way back to a 4th-and-4, Evangel struck one last time.

Welch caught a short pass from Swords and turned for the end zone, and his 55-yard touchdown and another two-point conversion gave the Lightning a 38-13 halftime lead.

From there, Evangel went into cruise control. While Arendell Parrott scored a fourth quarter touchdown, it could only cut the final deficit by six as the Lightning sealed the 38-19 win to extend their Alabama-best win streak to 34 in a row.

Swords led the offense both in the air and on the ground, going 11-for-16 for 195 passing yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 94 yards and a touchdown. Welch caught five of those 11 passes for 133 yards and two touchdowns.

Cloud finished with 19 yards off five carries to go with his touchdown, and Stallings’ 23-yard touchdown was responsible for most of his 27 receiving yards. Joiner had 33 receiving yards off four catches.

Over on defense, David Johnson led the way with nine tackles, including two for loss. Black had seven tackles and Welch had six.

The Lightning will have a week off before playing three straight 11-man games. The first will be against Abbeville Christian at Larry Simmons Stadium in Alabaster on Friday, Aug. 23.