OCVarsity’s season preview for 2016:
ORANGE LUTHERAN LANCERS
Coach: Chuck Petersen
Last season: 6-6 overall, 2-3 league
Scouting report: Orange Lutheran has had plenty of outstanding skill players over the years. This year, the Lancers are deeper than usual at the skill positions. Among those players are receiver Austin Liles, who had 34 receptions for 878 yards and six touchdowns and committed to San Jose State, and running back Dominik Austin who rushed for 1,016 yards and two touchdowns. Both were All-Trinity League second team in 2015. Travis Yates, No. 1 on ocvarsity.com’s ranking of Orange County’s defensive linemen, also will play offensive tackle. Coach Chuck Petersen likes the quality but is a bit concerned about the quantity of players along the offensive and defensive lines. “An issue could be depth up front on both sides of the ball,” he said. “We need to stay healthy there with that gauntlet of a schedule we’ll go through.” Senior safety Brandon McKinney is No. 2 on the ocvarsity.com list of the county’s top defensive backs. McKinney, who committed to Washington, had 114 tackles last year. Senior cornerback Lance Dravis had 49 tackles in 2015. “We’ve got some good kids at defensive back who have played a lot of football,” Petersen said. “They understand what they’re supposed to do.”
Bottom line: Asked where he thinks Orange Lutheran fits in the Trinity League, Petersen goes along with the prevalent thinking that Bosco and Mater Dei are 1A and 1B, and the other four teams are close. “Put us and JSerra and Servite and Santa Margarita in a bag, shake it up and see what comes out,” he said. How Lutheran comes out of that bag might be revealed early. The Lancers play 2015 state champion La Mirada and ’15 Pac-5 champion Centennial of Corona during the season’s first three weeks.
Players to watch: Dominik Austin, RB, Sr.; Austin Liles, WR, Sr.; Brandon McKinney, DB, Sr.; Travis Yates, OL/DL, Sr.
RELATED LINKS
- Trinity League preview
- JSerra preview
- Mater Dei preview
- Santa Margarita preview
- Orange Lutheran preview
- Servite preview
- St. John Bosco preview