sidelines

Guys I have a problemmm!
Friday we're playing our rivals and its the last game of the season. So its uber important! I want to go on the sidelines again because it was really fun and really cool to be down there buuut I was struggling with camera settings. From right on the field the light was different than from in the stands obviously and so I was panicking and a lot of my photos didn't actually turn out that great. (Plus it was freaking pouring the entire time) They were blurry and/or over/under exposed. And for the ones that I did like, I basically got lucky. xD C'est la vie right? ANYWAYS. I was wondering if anyone could help me with this? I dont want to miss things, I want to get the light right AND i want to freeze the players better! Soo I know I need some aperture/shutter advice. I might switch between going in the stands and the sidelines or I might not. I dont know. I'll probably google some night sports photography stuff sometime tomorrow but I thought I'd ask you guys too since you know more than i do :D thanks!