COSTA MESA – Servite coach A.J. Gass knew his kicker was in the right frame of mind with 10 seconds remaining in the Friars’ game against Orange Lutheran on Friday night.
Before trotting out on the field for a go-ahead field goal, Andrew Acosta looked at his coach and smiled. It wasn’t a shaky nervous grin – it was a confident one.
So, what happened next wasn’t a surprise. Acosta calmly booted the 31-yard field goal, which sailed through the uprights with 5 seconds left to give the Friars a 28-25 victory over Orange Lutheran in the Trinity League opener for both teams at Orange Coast College.
All the momentum swings, fluky plays and strange bounces that came before were erased when the ball split the yellow posts.
“Everything was hectic … but I knew what I’m capable of and I knew I was going to make it the whole time,” Acosta said.
What occurred just prior appeared to be a storybook ending for the Lancers (4-2, 0-1). Servite stormed out to a 20-0 lead on a touchdown run and two touchdown passes from senior quarterback Travis Waller.
But Waller’s 40-yard touchdown pass to Osiris St. Brown with 10:56 remaining in the second quarter was the last time the Friars (4-2, 1-0) would visit the end zone.
Orange Lutheran largely shut down the Servite offense after that, and rallied to cut the lead to 20-14 at the half on a touchdown pass and run from quarterback LJ Northington.
Then, in the second half, things got a little crazy.
“Going into halftime, momentum was in their pocket and you could feel it,” Gass said. “We needed something.”
On Orange Lutheran’s second drive of the third quarter, Orange Lutheran running back JD PicKell recovered a fumble by a teammate, but was pushed out of the end zone by Servite linebacker Jack Savage for a safety.
The momentum swung back to the Friars and they took advantage of the short field following the safety by tacking on another three points on Acosta’s first field goal, which put the Servite lead at 25-14 with 4:17 remaining in the third quarter.
But Orange Lutheran had an ace up its sleeve. Sophomore fullback Domink Austin came into the game with just 19 carries on the season, but broke out for a team-high 101 yards on 12 carries, including 84 in the second half.
His effort, along with a Taylor Magee interception, largely set up Orange Lutheran’s next two scores, another touchdown run by Northington with 9:56 remaining and a 36-yard field goal by Jerry Fitschen to tie the game at 25-25 with 2:35 left.
“We had a chance to fold our tent, the way it started, and they refused to,” Orange Lutheran coach Chuck Petersen said.
The Lancers, however, left too much time for Waller and Servite running back Tate Beachley, who finished with a game-high 103 yards on 17 carries.
The Friars’ offense, which had been stagnant for nearly three quarters, drove 66 yards on nine plays (six rushing) to set up Acosta’s game-winning kick.
“To be honest, I think we got a little cute (on offense) early on in the second half,” Gass said. “We got back to what we do best, which is running the ball. We leaned on our strength at the end”.”
Contact the writer: jbalan@ocregister.com
