PREP FOOTBALL ROUNDUP : Orange Lutheran Loses Third Straight, Falls to Aggressive Tijuana Team

All things considered, Orange Lutheran High School Coach Bob Dowding was willing to fill an open date by scheduling a private school from Tijuana for a nonleague game. But following Saturday’s 22-16 loss, he acknowledged he would be reluctant to do it again, and not only because of the final score.

Centro de Ensenanza Tecinica y Superior, a business school offering computer technology training to 250 students south of the border, traveled here with only 19 players and gave the hosts a tough lesson in aggressive football.

CETYS (4-1) built a 22-0 lead before Orange Lutheran staged a rally in the fourth quarter that made the score respectable. CETYS took advantage of a fumble recovery and an interception to score twice in a little over a minute in the first half and then opened the second half by returning the kickoff for another touchdown.

The third consecutive loss for Orange Lutheran (2-4) was costly. Quarterback Lenny Gavin and running back Lee Back were sidelined with leg injuries that later had Dowding questioning CETYS’ style of play.

“I didn’t like some of the things that took place today,” Dowding said. “I saw a lot of holding and spearing. I’ll give them credit, they played hard football. But if I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t schedule that team.”

CETYS was penalized 18 times for 177 yards, but its physical style of play often intimidated Orange Lutheran and ultimately was the deciding factor in the game.

Orange Lutheran played without five starters, including star tailback Gil Greene, who were given the day off to allow some nagging injuries to heal.

The injuries allowed Dowding to test some reserves at key positions, and the results were encouraging. Reserve quarterback Phil Matheson passed for 200 yards and two touchdowns. Ben Schroder caught seven passes for 95 yards, including an 11-yarder for a touchdown.

“If there was a positive point in this game, it was our passing attack,” Dowding said. “That was the best passing game we’ve had this season. The game definitely beats a bye.”