Orange Lutheran bottles up Price, beats Bosco

COSTA MESA - St. John Bosco of Bellflower quarterback Keith Price entered Friday's Trinity League showdown with Orange Lutheran as a walking highlight film.

Price, a Washington-commit, had his way with opposing defenses, having completed 72 percent of his passes for 17 touchdowns with only two interceptions.

That was before the fifth-ranked Lancers (6-1, 2-0) took their shot.

Price showed moments of flash, but the Lancers had the final word, as they limited his big plays and intercepted him twice in their 34-21 home victory over the Braves (6-1, 1-1) at Orange Coast College.

"It was a complete team effort on defense. It would be hard to  single out anybody (on defense)," Orange Lutheran coach Jim Kunau said. "I thought that all 11 guys did such a great job. Our defensive coordinator, Thurmond Moore, did a superb job."

Moore has had experience formulating defenses to slow multi-faceted quarterbacks such as Price. Moore was the defensive line coach at Syracuse University, and he had to deal with Michael Vick (Virginia Tech).

Moore said that Price reminded him of Vick.

"We had a great game plan from coach Moore," Lancers linebacker Jeremiah Pemasa said. "Our coaches put us in the right positions to cover him  and executed."

Terrence Brown and Gabe Lemon each intercepted a Price pass.

Orange Lutheran went back to the basics on offense and started to  take control of the game in the fourth quarter.

The Lancers had a 13-play, 88-yard drive to start the quarter  that resulted in a 2-yard touchdown run by Garret Gilliland for a 27-14 lead. The Lancers took 5:30 off of the clock and wore down the Braves' defense.

"I thought that turned the tide," Kunau said of the drive.  "Bosco's defense had done an exceptional job on our first three possessions in the third quarter and then our offensive line did real well. Garret Gilliland ran well and made some plays."

The Lancers attempted only one pass during the drive.

"Coming out in the second half, we had three three-and-outs in a  row and allowed a couple of sacks, so I challenged the offensive line,"  quarterback Bobby Wheatley said. "I told them that we were going to run the  ball. Everybody, the offensive line, tight ends, running backs all had the  mentality that we were not going to be stopped and that was incredible."

Kyle Dravis capped the scoring for Orange Lutheran with a 40-yard touchdown run with 2:45 left.

Orange Lutheran rushed for 293 yards, led by Dravis and Gilliland, who each had 86-yard performances.

The victory moves the Lancers into a first-tie with Mater Dei. Orange Lutheran will play Servite next Friday.

Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com