MKRob Sports

On a night the Lehigh Senior High football program celebrated its past, it also got a glimpse of its future.

And 48 minutes into first-year Lightning coach Pete Fominaya’s tenure, the future doesn’t look too bad.

Lehigh retired 1999 graduate and Detroit Lions defensive back Phillip Buchanon’s No. 2 jersey, then edged North Fort Myers 14-13 in a spring game Friday night.

“Phillip Buchanon is such a role model to this community,” said Fominaya, a Naples High assistant coach hired in the offseason to run the Lightning. “Our boys, when they’re at practice, they make believe they’re Phillip Buchanon. I’m glad for him to be here tonight and I’m glad for them to be part of something special like this, like this retirement, and I think he’s happy with what he saw.”

Buchanon, for his part, helped out his alma mater on the field as Lehigh won the opening toss, which he flipped, and he remained on their sideline throughout the game for moral support.

“It’s so funny, thinking about back then and all I thought about was making it to the NFL,” said Buchanon, who’ll be entering his eighth season in the league with stops in Oakland, Houston and Tampa Bay before signing a two-year contract with the Lions this offseason. “I never thought about having my jersey retired. For me, to be the first, it feels good.”