Two good things happened for the North Fort Myers football team during its spring football game against Lehigh at Moody Field Friday night: It ended, and it didn’t count in the standings.

Lightning delayed the kickoff about 20 minutes, adding to the evening of frustration.

Red Knights head coach Barry Goettemoeller hopes his team will remember the 33-0 whipping they took all summer, because it was every bit as bad as the score indicates.

The Red Knights gained 45 total yards, allowed five sacks, committed three turnovers and allowed the Lightning to roll up nearly 400 yards of offense.

While Goettemoeller said there were some positives, he hopes the team uses this as motivation over the summer.

“We’re going to think about this over the summer. I hope this leaves a bad taste in their mouths,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Lightning used a considerable size advantage up front to allow skill players to churn out big yardage. Junior quarterback Malik Simmons scored three touchdowns and freshman tailback Guillermo Hernandez gained 175 yards on 15 carries and scored twice.

On Lehigh’s first possession, Simmons ran the option left and cut back for a 60-yard TD run to make it 7-0 after Chris Ludwig’s PAT.

Three minutes later, after a fumble by freshman quarterback Brandon Makar, Hernandez ran it in from 36 yards to make it 14-0, one play after Bobby Hart’s 40-yard TD was called back by a penalty.

Hernandez added a 40-yard TD run midway through the second quarter to make it 20-0 at halftime.

Simmons added TD runs of eight and 12 yards in the third quarter to finish out the scoring.

Makar, who has played tackle football only two years, had his moments, completing a 22-yard pass to Jordan Beerbower in the third quarter, but looked overmatched in making the big jump from freshman football to varsity.

Lehigh had a nightmarish time with the snap with no less than 10 ending up rolling on the ground, leading to big losses. Remarkably, they committed no turnovers.

Even the referees showed they needed work, giving the Knights a fifth down late in the fourth quarter. Goettemoeller said that’s what makes spring football worth it.

“We’ll look at the film and find the guys we didn’t expect do well. That’s what makes spring football so great. You get to see who steps up,” Goettemoeller said.

Goettemoeller made no excuses for his team’s play, but is confident they’ll be ready in time for the season.

“Lehigh took it to us. They were good up front. We’re North Fort Myers and we’ll bounce back,” he said.

Lehigh 14 6 13 0 – 33

North FM 0 0 0 0 – 0

First Quarter

L – Simmons 60 run (Ludwig kick)

L – Hernandez 40 run (Ludwig kick)

Second Quarter

L – Hernandez 41 run (kick fail)

Third Quarter

L – Simmons 8 run (kick fail)

L – Simmons 12 run (Ludwig kick)