Nashville Kats Claw Their Way to Victory 40-32 over Oregon Lightning

Oregon Lightning vs Nashville Kats

The Oregon Lightning headed out to Nashville to take on the Kats Friday night. It was not easy to make it there for the Lightning, with multiple delayed flights due to potential tornados, it took them over 40 hours of travel to finally land in Nashville. Oregon is coming off an impressive come-from-behind victory over the Southwest Kansas Storm and looks to collect their second win of the season. On the other side of the field, the Nashville Kats look to join the win column. 

Oregon has been inconsistent throughout the season, in one half they look like a well-oiled machine, and in the other, they make multiple mistakes in a row. Nashville, while winless, has struggled to get their offense to maintain pace with the teams they have played. Both teams are hungry to keep pace in their respective division but need to find a way to control what they can control. 

NASHVILLE ControlLing the Pace

Nashville came out from the jump early, working their way down the field. While Oregon struggled to move the chains. But Oregon found some answers by running the ball and unleashing Tom Butters and Robert Jones Jr. What felt like Oregon turning all the momentum in their favor, Nashville ripped that all away with a late first-half touchdown. 

More of the same came in the second half. Oregon would start to gain momentum and Nashville would pull it all right back. Sulka and the Kats constantly maintained their pace out front and didn’t let up. Oregon needed something to fall their way and that never came. 

Nashville Jamming Early

Nashville started the game with new quarterback Tyler Kulka. It proved to be the right choice, chunking his way down the field, The Kats used a flurry of underneath throws to constantly move the chains, capping off the first drive with a run by Antwane Grant hurdling his way into the endzone. Kukla was able to dink and dunk his way through the Lightning's defense early on. With an impressive rush by Carlton Brown, he was able to shake off multiple defenders for another touchdown. The Kats defense was able to keep the Lightning offense at bay while they built an early 130-0 lead.

Early Rust for Oregon

The Oregon Lightning were sluggish out of the gate with their rough travel situation. The offense was unable to convert their first down until late in the first quarter. Dalton Cole was not his usual self, throwing offline to his receivers. While his receivers dropped some key plays, the offense stalled. It wasn’t until their third drive that Cole used his feet to make some magic happen. The Lightning finally struck gold in the second quarter with a 28-yard rip to Kris Lewis. But that moment quickly died with an interception in the endzone by Shaun Lewis. Neither the offense nor defense for the Lightning could get a footing on their side of the ball. 

Cole and Butters

Needing a spark, Chuck Jones turned to his new weapon, Tom Butters. Butters was Mr. Do-It-All, giving the Lightning life in the second quarter. Making multiple big blocks and rushing the ball in for a touchdown. At his size and speed, it took multiple Kats to try and contain him. Off an interception, Tom was able to strip the ball and record a forced fumble as well. 

Dalton Cole hurt his ribs early in the game. The injury seemed to give Cole some juice. Between him and Butters, they manage to stay within striking distance of Nashville. Cole wasn’t sharp with his arm tonight. However, he was excellent at running. Scrambling, fighting for extra yards, and rushing the ball in multiple times, Dalton tried to keep his team in it all night. 

Kulka and Krew

Needing an answer at quarterback, Darren Arbet turned to Tyler Sulka. It proved to be the right decision. Tyler was accurate, slowly building through short completions. As his confidence built, Sulka and the Kats opened up the deep pass game. In the first half, he found Robert Jones Jr. for two touchdowns over 25 yards. The connection to his receivers seemed like he was in mid-season form. 

Nashville was able to establish a strong run attack early and maintained it into the second half. Led by Carlton Brown, converting first downs and powering in two touchdowns. Robert Jones Jr. added another touchdown on the ground and two through the air. 



Nashville found their first win of the season, smoldering the Lightning 40-32. The Kats and Lightning both moved to 1-2. Both Nashville and Oregon will be off next week. The Kats will head out to the Pacific Northwest to take on the Washington Wolfpack on April 17th. The Oregon Lightning will travel down to Salina on April 19th for their next game. Fans can catch all the AF1 action live on EVERGREENNOW all season long.