SANTA ANA- It happened again.

In 2006, Mater Dei beat Servite, Servite beat Orange Lutheran and Orange Lutheran beat Mater Dei. The same sequence happened in '07.

Thanks to Parker Flynn's 42-yard field goal with two seconds remaining, the Trinity League trifecta happened one more time as Lutheran beat Mater Dei, 24-21, Thursday at Santa Ana Stadium in the final regular-season game for both. (Full game stats.)

It was Mater Dei's first league loss. Lutheran and Mater Dei are tied for first place in the Trinity with 4-1 records. There could be a three-way tie for the league championship if Servite beats St. John Bosco of Bellflower tonight in a Trinity game at Cerritos College, a result that would also make Servite 4-1. Lutheran, Mater Dei and Servite finished in a three-way tie last year, too.

If there is a three-way tie, a series of coin flips would determine the Trinity League's order of representation for the CIF-Southern Section Pac-5 Division playoffs. That is important, because the No. 1 team would be guaranteed a first-round home game against another league's lower representative, while a No. 3 will open the playoffs on the road against a league champion.

Playoff seedings and first-round pairings will be released Sunday, and will be posted late that morning at ocvarsity.com.

Orange Lutheran will take an 8-2 overall record into the playoffs. Mater Dei is 7-3.

Lutheran coach Jim Kunau said the key for the Lancers was in the turnovers category, where the final stat sheet showed them with zero.

"That was probably the biggest thing," he said. "Turnovers spanked us in our two losses."

Mater Dei had tied the game, 21-21, with 6:34 to go in the fourth quarter on a 4-yard TD run by Jaron Hytche, his second rushing touchdown of the game and his 22nd of the season.

Later in the quarter, Lutheran's Kyle Dravis intercepted a Matt Barkley pass to put the Lancers on their 29 with 3:36 to play. Lutheran maneuvered down field quickly, with quarterback Bobby Wheatley completing four passes on the drive. An apparent TD run by Dravis was erased by a Lutheran holding penalty, so the Lancers eventually were left with Flynn's field goal kick which had plenty of distance and was inside the left upright by a couple of feet.

It was 7-7 at the half before Mater Dei took the lead on its first possession of the second half. Barkley connected with Christian Maldonado for 29 yards, then Hytche took a handoff on a trap play and ran 53 yards for a TD to give the Monarchs a 14-7 lead.

Then came a sequence of two remarkable plays for Lutheran.

The Lancers had the ball, fourth-and-4 at their 39. They lined up to punt, but Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson sensed something was up and was yelling and jumping up and down, trying to make sure Lutheran players lined up wide were covered. Rollinson was right, but the Monarchs did not get everyone covered; Turner threw right to Davonte Anderson for a 15-yard gain and a first down at Mater Dei’s 46.

With Mater Dei trying to get reorganized after that, Lutheran dipped into the trick bag again, and immediately. Wheatley threw a backward pass to his left to Turner, who launched a perfect pass to running back Exavier Edwards streaking down the right side for a touchdown.

That tied it, 14-14.

Mater Dei scored first, in the second quarter. On Barkley's best pass of the first half, he threw a bullet down the middle to a streaking Ario Winston for a 45-yard gain to Lutheran's 24. Three runs by Hytche moved the Monarchs to the Lutheran 9.

On second-and-8 at the 9, Barkley faked a handoff to Hytche going left, then rolled right before firing the ball to tight end Chris Paliska for the touchdown. Zac Chocek's  kick for the extra point gave Mater Dei a 7-0 lead with 8:03 left in the first half.

Lutheran then went on a 20-play, 80-yard drive that consumed 7:34 off the clock. The Lancers converted two third downs into first downs and converted two fourth downs into first downs on the drive. On that final fourth-down conversion, on fourth-and-1 at the Mater Dei 10, Garret Gilliland ran 9 yards to the 1-yard line.

On the next play, Wheatley crossed the goal line on a sneak for the touchdown with 29 seconds remaining in the half. Flynn kicked the extra point to make it 7-7.

Surprisingly, Wheatley was the more active passer of game's two quarterbacks in the first half.
Wheatley was 11 for 16, for 57 yards over the first two quarters. Barkley was 4 for 8, for 64 yards, 45 of which came on the completion to Winston. Barkley did not look comfortable in the pocket on his first few passes, and underthrew or threw wide of the receiver.

• Click here for full game stats and links to season totals and rosters.

Contact the writer: sfryer@ocregister.com