Cal Lutheran Falls Apart Late, 26-10 : Kingsmen Trail by Two in Fourth Quarter but St. Mary’s Pulls Away

While most of the St. Mary’s players gathered in the middle of the field, celebrating a 26-10 victory over Cal Lutheran, another handful of players stood anxiously outside the Gaels’ locker room and watched quarterback Tim Rosenkranz being strapped onto a stretcher and loaded into a waiting ambulance.

It might have been a Pyrrhic victory for St. Mary’s (2-1). Rosenkranz, the active career passing-yardage leader in Division II, left the game midway through the second quarter because of a back injury with the Gaels leading, 6-3. The injury was diagnosed as a back strain and Rosenkranz was later released from the hospital. His playing status is uncertain.

Rosenkranz’s replacement, freshman Kevin Lemmo, had never thrown a pass in collegiate football but threw for 111 yards and a touchdown.

“The first pass the left-hander threw kind of surprised everybody,” Cal Lutheran Coach Bob Shoup said of Lemmo’s initial effort, a 10-yard completion to wide receiver Lee Dongallo. “We didn’t know he was left-handed. That’s something we hadn’t practiced on. We made some mistakes in coverage.”

Lemmo didn’t show quite the elan of Rosenkranz, who completed 12 of 14 passes. With St. Mary’s leading, 6-3, in the third quarter, Lemmo fumbled on a blitz and the ball popped out of his hands to Cal Lutheran linebacker Alonzo Williams.

Williams galloped 60 yards for a touchdown, but Cal Lutheran (0-2) snatched defeat from the jaws of victory with a defensive-holding penalty that not only nullified the play but awarded St. Mary’s 10 yards. The Gaels scored three plays later.

“It was the big play,” Shoup said. “With it, we’re going with momentum into the fourth quarter and a lead, and I think we would have blown the ballgame open. That’s about as dramatic a turnaround as you can get.”

Cal Lutheran closed the gap with five minutes to play. Quarterback Dan Nagelmann rolled right and found fullback Dan Smeester with a two-yard touchdown pass. Trailing only 12-10, the Kingsmen stiffened on defense, and the offense attempted to mount a game-winning drive with 4:25 remaining.

On the first play, however, Nagelmann overthrew tight end David Deisinger over the middle, and defensive back Miles Freeman intercepted, returning the ball to the Cal Lutheran seven.

“Instead of trying to loft it, I just zipped it,” said Nagelmann, making his first start for Cal Lutheran.

The Gaels scored three plays later.

“We’ve just got to learn to straighten it up when they get that kind of break,” said linebacker Scott Schultz, who led the Kingsmen with 12 tackles. “We still could have won.”

St. Mary’s scored its final touchdown after Cal Lutheran reserve quarterback Tim Zeddies fumbled at his 30.

Running back Jeff Lapinski shredded the St. Mary’s defense with 71 first-half yards but suffered a slight concussion and rushed only twice in the second half.

Dean Henderson then picked up the load, gaining 60 yards in 12 second-half carries, but, despite netting 140 yards with a fairly proficient rushing attack, Cal Lutheran couldn’t put points on the board. Three lost fumbles, one interception and an anemic 0 for 6 on third-down conversion attempts, kept the Kingsmen stymied.

“We’ve got to get off scoring one touchdown a game if we’re going to win against this level of competition,” Shoup said. “We still play a little tentative on offense, like we’re almost there.”

Linebacker Bobby Crume led the St. Mary’s defense with 12 tackles and he had two fumble recoveries and a sack.