Cal Lutheran Whips Winless Whittier, 20-0

If there was a way to beat the Cal Lutheran defense on Saturday, the Whittier Poets did not know it.

Cal Lutheran made a wasteland of the Whittier offense, limiting Whittier to seven first downs and 166 yards. Adding its best offensive output of the season, visiting Cal Lutheran posted a 20-0 nonconference win.

“Their defense was dominating,” Whittier Coach Don Uyeshima said.

“They couldn’t run it; they couldn’t throw it,” Cal Lutheran Coach Joe Harper said.

Cal Lutheran (2-6) intercepted three passes and recovered a fumble en route to its first shutout of the season.

Whittier (0-7) was 0 for 13 on third-down conversions and twice failed to convert on fourth-down gambles inside the Cal Lutheran 15-yard line.

“We finally put it all together on defense,” Cal Lutheran linebacker Kevin Evans said.

Limiting itself to two basic defenses and a blitz option, Cal Lutheran employed what Evans called “the simplest thing we’ve run all year.”

Meanwhile, Cal Lutheran was grinding out 247 yards on the ground against a unit that ranked first in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in defense.

Cal Lutheran’s Jay Weber rushed for 97 yards in 18 carries, Alonzo Williams ran for 82 in 11 and Tom Leogrande gained 63 in 11.

Cal Lutheran scored all 20 points in the first half. Midway through the first quarter, a seven-yard punt put Cal Lutheran on the Whittier 21-yard line and set the stage for Alex Papike’s 24-yard field goal.

Cal Lutheran used its two longest runs of the season to score two touchdowns in the last 2 minutes 9 seconds of the first quarter.

Weber broke free through the middle for a 37-yard touchdown run and Williams scored on the first play of Cal Lutheran’s next possession on a 47-yard run.

After Cal Lutheran quarterback Craig Fortin was shaken up late in the half, wide receiver Leogrande moved to quarterback.

On his first play there, Leogrande ran 28 yards to key a scoring drive with less than a minute remaining. Papike kicked a 17-yard field goal as time expired.

“I’m just glad we got our points when we did,” Harper said. “It was kind of uncharacteristic for us.”

Fortin completed one of six passes for four yards, and Leogrande was two of eight for 15.