COSTA MESA – The rest will be short-lived, but it’s undoubtedly overdue and warranted at this point in Orange Lutheran’s season.
The fifth-ranked Lancers closed the book on an arduous preseason schedule with a 29-14 nonleague victory over Inland Empire power Vista Murrieta on Friday night at Orange Coast College.
Having suffered back-to-back losses to Corona Centennial and Concord De La Salle in the weeks leading up to Friday’s contest, the Lancers bounced back by getting back to the basics.
Orange Lutheran’s triple-option attack gashed the Broncos defense for 384 yards on 53 carries. Junior running back Dominik Austin turned in a game-high 128 yards rushing and punched in two second half touchdowns. Senior southpaw Lj Northington also eclipsed the century mark with 102 yards and a score, while adding 118 yards passing and a touchdown as the Lancers racked up 502 yards of total offense.
“I was proud of our boys tonight,” Orange Lutheran coach Chuck Petersen said. “Tough trip (to De La Salle) last week. We were two days behind because we didn’t get back until Sunday morning after driving all night. We knew we were playing a really good, physical football team in Vista Murrieta and I was really proud of how they fought, and played – for the most part – pretty well.”
The Lancers head into their bye week with a 3-2 record, but life gets no easier as top-ranked Mater Dei now awaits Petersen and his team on Oct. 9 at OCC.
“We’re going to get healthy academically, get healthy mentally and physically,” Petersen said. “We got a great opponent coming up, and we know that. We’ve had great opponents throughout the preseason, and I think that was the big difference tonight.”
Trailing 6-3 with only 54 seconds remaining in the first half, the Lancers’ offense took over at its own 36-yard line. Northington and Austin muscled their way through the A-gap on four quick snaps, rumbling for 51 yards deep into Broncos territory. Northington’s 13-yard touchdown strike to Malone Mataele capped a five-play, 64-yard drive that gave Orange Lutheran a 10-6 lead.
After the intermission, Austin and Co. scored on their first three possessions, jumping out to 29-6 lead early in the fourth quarter. The Lancers did not throw a pass in the third quarter, rushing the ball 13 times for 130 yards and two touchdowns.
Northington’s second pass of the fourth was a 42-yard strike to Brandon McKinney, that advanced the ball to the Vista Murrieta 1. Austin’s second touchdown plunge put the Lancers up by 23 with just more than 10 minutes to play.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
