WESTMINSTER - It was a homecoming win for kings.

The Legacy Lightning played a nearly perfect second half Friday night to top Arvada West 38-21 and celebrate their homecoming night.

The win not only helped the Lightning open the North Metro League with a win, it also got Legacy back on track after a brutal non-league schedule.

“We’ve been preparing for it all week,” said Jake Bublitz, who scored two touchdowns in the game. “It’s not the greatest way to start the season, but we are staying positive and continue to push each other and get better.”

Arvada West took control of the game early, but that didn’t faze Legacy which was desperately looking for a win after losing three of its first four games.

The Wildcats’ duo of Allen Martin and Marcus Culhane were nearly unstoppable early, connecting on two first-half scores to give Arvada West an early 14-0 advantage.

“Sometimes when you expect success right away and it doesn’t happen you get frustrated,” Legacy’s coach Wayne Voorhees said. “We told our kids to slow down and just play their game. That’s what they did (Friday) and I’m proud of them for that.”

Legacy got a 30-yard field goal from Travis Baum and then Phydell Paris, who was chosen the homecoming king, powered his way into the end zone from six yards out to cut Arvada West’s lead to 14-10 at the half.

It was all Legacy after that, proving they can score in a variety of ways.

The Lightning pounded out a nine-play, 80-yard drive that ate up five minutes off the clock.

Quarterback Steven Yoshihara hooked up with three different players on the drive, including finding Mitch McCall from three yards out to help Legacy take the lead.

“Scoring right before the half was big for us,” Voorhees said. “It changed the momentum and we knew if we came out and punched it in to start the second half we would take the lead and we could hold the lead.”

Legacy’s next possession didn’t last nearly as long, as Yoshihara found Mike Straface on a 51-yard bomb.

Bublitz pushed the lead to 17 after scoring on a run from 12 yards out and then he sealed the victory by picking off Martin and returning it 40 yards for a score.

Martin found Casey Lewis in the fourth quarter for Arvada West for the Wildcats third touchdown.

“After jumping out to an early 14-point lead we let up a little and didn’t re-light our fire until it was too late,” Arvada West’s coach Greg Whisler said. “While we had several opportunities to put points on the board and make stops on defense, we made too many mental mistakes to earn the win.”

Paris had 132 rushing yards to lead Legacy, while Yoshihara threw for 183 yards and two scores. Mike Straface was the Lightning top receiver with two catches for 65 yards. Legacy won’t have a lot of time to celebrate, especially with a showdown with No. 3 ranked Pomona (4-1 overall) on Friday.

The Panthers lone blemish on the season was a 28-23 loss to current No. 1 Chaparral. Last season, Pomona beat Legacy 40-7 at North Stadium.

“We are going to take this confidence into next week and try and take out Pomona,” Bublitz said. “They are a really good team; we are going to have to come ready to play.”

Arvada West (1-4 overall, 0-1 in North Metro League) hosts Fairview on Friday night for their homecoming game.