St. Mary’s Hands CLU First Loss

They were serving up turnovers at St. Mary’s Stadium on Saturday, but when the football game was over, Cal Lutheran went home hungry, dropping a 30-23 decision to the Gaels.

St. Mary’s (4-0) survived 9 fumbles, 6 interceptions and 9 sacks to rally from a 15-10 deficit before a crowd estimated at 3,000.

“I’m not sure what they put on the ball,” St. Mary’s Coach Craig Rundle said.

Cal Lutheran (2-1) turned the ball over six times, with five of the turnovers winding up in the possession of St. Mary’s outside linebacker Morgan Lakin. Lakin intercepted three passes and recovered a pair of fumbles.

“That sure was a peculiar game,” said Cal Lutheran Coach Bob Shoup.

When St. Mary’s held on to the ball, its offense moved freely. The Gaels rolled up a 297-47 advantage in total yards in the first half, but because of the turnovers had only a 10-7 lead to show for it.

And if it wasn’t for some timely help from CLU, St. Mary’s might have found itself trailing.

Leading 7-3 with the clock running out in the second quarter, Cal Lutheran called a timeout with 1:04 remaining. But the Kingsmen failed to make a first down and had to turn the ball back to St. Mary’s on its 32.

Quarterback Tim Rosenkranz hit Warren Parker on three consecutive passes--covering 42, 7 and 19 yards--the final one in the right corner of the end zone with 12 seconds left. The three-play, 68-yard drive took just 21 seconds.

The Kingsmen came back on their first series of the second half to regain the lead. On the first play from scrimmage, Noel Chesnut broke loose for 54 yards before St. Mary’s Terry Powell stopped him inside the Gael 10. Two plays later, quarterback Jim Bees slipped over from the 1.

The Kingsmen almost blew the point-after attempt, but Tim Zeddies corraled a high snap and wriggled into the end zone for a 2-point conversion and a 15-10 lead.

That advantage lasted about 10 minutes. Rosenkranz, who completed 13 of 33 passes for 262 yards, found a leaping Parker in the end zone again with 3:13 remaining in the third period. The touchdown and extra point gave St. Mary’s a 17-15 lead.

The Gaels scored again before the quarter ended, taking advantage of a Jason Becker interception and 33-yard return. Rosenkranz hit Dave Ryno with an 11-yard pass to complete the drive.

Rosenkranz and Ryno combined again early in the fourth period after Doug Beuerlein returned a punt 42 yards to the CLU 17. On the next play, Rosenkranz connected with Ryno to give St. Mary’s a 30-15 lead.