That said, things looked ominous for the Orange Lutheran football team on Saturday night at Sierra Canyon. The Lancers were down by 19 points at halftime, had no blocks, no tackles and showed little energy. Their bus could use some warming up for the long ride home.
Never doubt the perseverance and pride of young athletes.
“I had faith,” Lutheran linebacker Talanoa Ili said.
The Lancers (4-1) rallied and scored 26 straight points in the second half to defeat Sierra Canyon 33-26 in their final game before the start of Tri-League play on Oct. 4.
Sierra Canyon (2-3), facing its third Triathlon League team this season, played as well as it has in the first 24 minutes of any game. Havon Finney Jr. returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown. Wyatt Becker ran 19 yards for a touchdown. Jaxsen Stokes ran 29 yards for a touchdown. Jonah Nadley caught a 3-yard touchdown pass. The Trailblazers’ defense didn’t allow any big plays and pressured quarterback TJ Lateef. Madden Riordan finished the half with his seventh interception.
But nothing went right for Sierra Canyon in the second half. The Trailblazers lost two fumbles, struggled with ball movement, and Latif took over. After a 41-yard field goal by Aiden Migirdichian, Latif scored on a three-yard play on the first play of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 26-16. Steve Chavez scored on a 9:12 run after Sierra Canyon lost. The Lancers then took the lead with 7:50 remaining on a four-yard touchdown reception by Chris Flores Jr.
Sierra Canyon drove to the 13 with 2:20 remaining, but on fourth down, a potential game-winning drive ended when Orange Lutheran’s Eazley Manutai intercepted the pass and dropped it incomplete.
“We just needed some confidence,” Manutai said of the second-half comeback.
