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  • Orange Lutheran’s Stan Berryhill makes a TD catch as La...

    Orange Lutheran’s Stan Berryhill makes a TD catch as La Mirada’s Shaun Swayne tries to break up the pass.

  • Orange Lutheran’s Stan Berryhill runs with the ball for a...

    Orange Lutheran’s Stan Berryhill runs with the ball for a 71-yard touchdown against La Mirada in the second quarter of a nonleague football game at Orange Coast College.

  • La Mirada’s Chad Wilson tries to break away from an...

    La Mirada’s Chad Wilson tries to break away from an Orange Lutheran defender during a nonleague football game at Orange Coast College.

  • La Mirada’s Trevor Hallock grabs the shirt of Orange Lutheran’s...

    La Mirada’s Trevor Hallock grabs the shirt of Orange Lutheran’s Dominik Austin as he runs with the ball in the first quarter of a nonleague football game at Orange Coast College.

  • La Mirada’s Quarterback Tristan Meyer holds onto the ball as...

    La Mirada’s Quarterback Tristan Meyer holds onto the ball as Orange Lutheran’s CJ Murray takes him down in the second quarter of a nonleague football game at Orange Coast College.

  • With one second left in the first half, La Mirada’s...

    With one second left in the first half, La Mirada’s Cam'ron Chatman takes down Orange Lutheran’s Noah Crandall during a nonleague football game at Orange Coast College.

  • Orange Lutheran’s Noah Crandall intercepts the ball from La Mirada...

    Orange Lutheran’s Noah Crandall intercepts the ball from La Mirada in the first quarter of a nonleague football game at Orange Coast College.

  • Orange Lutheran’s Michael Noble dives for a pass but fails...

    Orange Lutheran’s Michael Noble dives for a pass but fails to grab on during a nonleague football game against La Mirada at Orange Coast College.

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COSTA MESA – Close games often come down to a lot of grit and a little luck.

A fake punt led to the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter of the opener between No. 3 Orange Lutheran and La Mirada.

Nick Hernandez’s 4-yard touchdown run with 6:54 remaining stood up as the winner as La Mirada defeated Orange Lutheran, 21-14, on Friday night in a nonleague game at Orange Coast College.

The momentum swing came on RJ Lan’s 19-yard run on a fake punt inside of the Matadors’ 20-yard line. Hernandez, who had 179 rushing yards, did the rest.

“All game we’d been looking at it, and we saw that it was open,” Lan said. “I feel like luck is a big part of a lot of stuff, but I feel like this team has the skill level to do anything that we want.”

La Mirada (1-0), the defending state champion for Division 3AA, dared to be different again when it was buried inside its 5-yard line with just less than four minutes left. The Matadors opted to throw, with Tristan Meyer completing a 20-yard pass to Lan to get his team away from their own goal line.

Orange Lutheran (0-1) got its offense going through the air in the second quarter. Ryan Hilinski (154 passing yards) connected twice with Stan Berryhill for touchdowns. The first was a 16-yard strike over the middle on the opening play of the quarter.

A daring pass into double coverage turned golden for La Mirada late in the quarter, as Meyer’s pass on third-and-15 turned into a game-tying 35-yard score to Jeremy Clark with 3:26 remaining in the half.

Berryhill answered 41 seconds later, taking a right-sideline route 71 yards to give the Lancers a 14-7 lead heading into the break. He finished with a game-high 121 receiving yards.

La Mirada’s defense got even in the third. Cornerback Chad Wilson intercepted Hilinski for a 49-yard touchdown.

Lancers punter Justin Lomakin pinned La Mirada inside its own 10-yard line twice.

Michael Noble had an interception and Noah Crandall had a fumble recovery for the Lancers.