The East County Pee Wee Lions traveled to Antioch last weekend with visions of defeating a tough team that made it to the Turkey Bowl last year. Their visions became reality in a thrilling 13-7 win.

Midway through the first quarter, running back Ronnie Rivers took a direct snap up the middle of the field, juking, jiving and outrunning the Antioch defense to give the Lions a 6-0 lead. A Panther drive made the halftime score 7-6.

The Lions came out strong in the second half as quarterback Brodie Garner connected on passes to Dewey Martin and Jonathon Davis. After exchanging possessions a few times, the Lions broke through again on a long pass from Garner to Davis for the touchdown. Rivers converted the extra point to give the Lions the 13-7 lead going into the fourth quarter.

From there, the Lion defense took over and stuffed the Antioch offense over and over again. With under a minute left in the game, Antioch gained possession deep in Lion territory, driving toward the winning score. On fourth down, with 14 seconds left, the Antioch quarterback scrambled to his right and was heading down the sideline when Rogers came up from his position and made the touchdown-saving tackle as time expired, giving the Lions the victory.

The defensive front of Jason Ternes, Arnold Cuevas, Jose Diaz, Izaiah Paopao (forced fumble), Isaac Freitas, Chris Bernal, along with linebackers Davis and Abel Ordaz (fumble recovery) stifled Antioch’s potent running game. Defensive backs Jared Rogers, Martin and Rivers also made key tackles from their positions.

The Lions are now on a roll, winning three of their last four games and making a strong push toward making the playoffs.