Orange Lutheran 19 - Eagles 0
BREA OLINDA, CA., September 24, 2004 – For the second consecutive week the Eagles couldn’t capitalize on redzone opportunities and fell this time to the Orange Lutheran Lancers 19-0 before 4,000 fans at Brea Olinda High School. The loss dropped Santa Margarita’s record to 1-2 while the Lancer win avenged a 42-0 pasting at the hands of the Eagles when the two teams were members of the Olympic League in 1989. The 1-2 record is the Eagles worst start since they opened 1-2 in 1991.
The Lancers wasted little time in taking control of the game as they marched 65 yards on only five plays capped by a 32-yard scoring run by Donny Lee at the 10:00 mark to lead 7-0. Santa Margarita responded with a promising 14-play drive into Lancer territory before the drive stalled and they were forced to punt. On the next Lancer series Mason Frakes recovered a fumble at the Eagle’s 47 and after a few key runs for first downs by Russell Hoeflich a fourth down pass from Jon Daniels to Jacob Gordon fell incomplete in the endzone to keep the score 7-0. With 1:32 left in the half the Eagles stopped the Lancers on a fourth and two situation and were able to cross into Lancer territory before three consecutive incompletions ended the scoring threat.
After an exchange of punts early in the second quarter the Lancers put together a nine-play scoring drive highlighted by a spectacular 43-yard run by QB Blake Lucas (14 carries for 112 yards) and capped by his one seven-yard keeper to make it 13-0 with 11:54 remaining in the game. On the second play of the Eagle’s next series All-CIF defensive lineman Eric Augustine stripped the ball from an eagle ballcarrier and raced 45 yards untouched for the score at the 10:54 mark to make it 19-0. The Eagles didn’t give up as they went on a 13-play drive all the way to the Lancer five yard line before a negative yardage run, incompletion and sack left the visitors little choice but to settle for a field goal attempt to avoid a shutout. Unfortunately Mike Fowle’s kick sailed wide. Santa margarita got the ball back with 3:34 left but could not penetrate any further than the Lancer 35.
Daniels (15 of 26 for 146 yards) and sophomore WR Ryan Maxwell (five receptions) had respectable games, and the team once gain managed to move the ball between the 20’s at will, but the running game managed only 31 yards on 30 carries and the redzone struggles carried over from last week. The defensive unit was led by senior captains Colby Rodgers and Sean Aldridge who had career-highs of 11 and 10 tackles respectively and Ross Cumming who earned Player of the Game honors for his seven tackle, one sack and one forced fumble night.
| Orange Lutheran | 7 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 19 |
| Santa Margarita | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
OLU – Lee 32 run (Olson kick)
OLU – Lucas 8 run (kick failed)
OLU – Augustine 44 fumble return (run failed)
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing: SM - Hoeflich 9-29, Villamar 8-21; OL - Lucas 14-112, Lee 9-49
Passing: SM - Daniels 14-26-0-139; OL - Corp 3-6-0-65, Lucas 2-2-0-12
Receiving: SM - Rivera 3-44, Schmit 3-30
By Adrian Peters
Sports Information Director
Defense does it
The Lancers improve to 2-1 with a shutout of the Eagles. Orange Lutheran's D also scores a touchdown
BREA – Orange Lutheran's offense was expected to struggle, given that starting quarterback Seth Blackamore will miss the first half of the season because of a knee injury.
So the Lancers have relied on defense, and it was their defense that came through Friday in a 19-0 victory over Santa Margarita at Brea Olinda High.
"Defense has been the one consistent thing for us these three weeks," Orange Lutheran coach Jim Kunau said. "We gave up two big plays to Mater Dei, but other than that, our defense has played very well."
The defense even scored a touchdown Friday night. Eric Augustine, a senior All-CIF lineman, ripped the ball from a Santa Margarita runner and ran 44 yards for the Lancers' final touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Orange Lutheran, ranked No. 7 in Orange County, improved to 2-1. The Lancers lost to Mater Dei, 21-7, in their season opener, then beat Long Beach Millikan, 35-3, last week.
Santa Margarita is 1-2. The Eagles beat St. Paul, 14-3, in Week 1, then lost to Dorsey of Los Angeles, 27-7, last week.
The Eagles were held to 28 net yards rushing Friday night. Quarterback Jon Daniels was 14 of 26 for 139 yards but was pressured frequently and sacked three times.
With Blackamore out until at least mid-October, Lutheran has rotated Blake Lucas and Aaron Corp at quarterback. Lucas is more of a running quarterback; Friday, he rushed for a game-high 112 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Corp was 3 of 6 for 65 yards.
Lutheran scored on its first possession, with running back Donny Lee reaching the end zone on a 32-yard run.
The score remained 7-0 until Lucas' touchdown run, on which he faked a pitch to fullback Pat Roxas, then cut through a hole toward the goal line.
On Santa Margarita's ensuing possession, Augustine muscled the ball out of an Eagle's grasp, then took off for the touchdown.
"I did the same thing against Loara last year," said Augustine, a 6-foot, 265-pound senior two-way lineman. "We stood their player up, swarmed him, and I just pulled the ball out of there and started running."
He was not the only Lutheran player to make a key defensive play.
In the first quarter, a sack by Lutheran's Kyle Smart on third-and-14 at the Lancers' 31 stopped an Eagles drive.
In the second quarter, the Eagles drove to the Lancers' 25-yard line. Santa Margarita went for it on fourth-and-8, but Lutheran safety Brandon Rohr's coverage on the intended receiver forced Daniels to throw the ball out of bounds.
Also making defensive contributions for the Lancers were Mike Williams, Eric Palomo, Justin Fuller, John Mercurio, Zach Heim, Kyle Renny, Derek DiPalma, Roxas and Lucas.
"Our defense has really been coming together," Augustine said. "We keep raising the level of our game each week."
Kunau is not pleased with what he sees as the Lancers' offensive struggles, even while he acknowledges the loss of Blackamore has had a large effect.
"We need to get more consistency on offense," Kunau said. "We move the ball pretty well, then we get into the red zone and become our own worst enemies. We have to do better than that."
Penalties especially hurt Lutheran's offense. The Lancers were penalized 10 times for 77 yards.
"We'd be moving the ball pretty well," Kunau said, "and then next thing you know, we're looking at second down-and-20. That really slowed us down tonight."
Lutheran plays Marina next Friday at Brea Olinda, the Lancers' home stadium. Santa Margarita plays Fountain Valley at Huntington Beach High.
By Steve Fryer
Saturday, September 25, 2004
The Orange County Register
