Orange Beats Katella With Late Flurry

In a football game in which both teams played to a virtual offensive standstill for more than three quarters, Orange and Katella sure made things interesting in the final three minutes.

Orange outscored Katella, 10-7, in the final 2 minutes 40 seconds and held on for a 16-14 nonleague victory Thursday night at Glover Stadium.

Micah Knorr kicked a 45-yard field goal with 2:40 left, and tailback Jamie Worthem scored his second touchdown of the game on a 20-yard run with 2:18 remaining to give the Panthers a 16-7 lead. Katella quarterback Jaret Wright threw four consecutive incompletions after the field goal, giving Orange the ball on the Katella 20.

But Katella answered Worthem’s touchdown with a six play, 68-yard drive that ended with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Wright to David Rojo with 1:01 left.

Katella tried an on-side kick, but Orange’s Andy Lauridsen recovered at midfield and the Panthers ran out the clock.

“Our motto is to make things interesting,” Orange Coach Buddy Bland said.

The go-ahead field goal certainly was. It was redemption for Knorr, who missed an extra-point in the first quarter after an Orange personal foul penalty forced him to kick from 28 yards out instead of 13.

“He kicked a 51-yard field goal for us last year,” Bland said. “He has great range, and we put him in situations like that all the time in practice. he has ice in his veins.”

Worthem, who gained 92 yards in 25 carries, was a workhorse on the Panthers’ final two drives, gaining 35 yards.

The game not only ended with quick scores, it started the same way.

Orange, which had been outscored a combined 31-0 in the first quarter of its first two games, scored on its opening possession Thursday night.

Sophomore quarterback Raul Vital completed passes of 16 yards to Aaron Tavernier and 18 yards to Brian Lenahan on the drive, setting up a four-yard touchdown run by Worthem. But Knorr missed the long extra-point kick, and Orange had a 6-0 lead.

It didn’t last for long. Katella’s Chad Fassler intercepted Vital at the Orange 24-yard line and returned it to the seven with 5 minutes 41 seconds left in the first quarter.

On the next play, running back Eric Gardiner plowed through the middle for a touchdown. Mike Rubio’s extra-point kick gave Katella a 7-6 lead that it held through the third quarter.

Orange held Katella to 201 yards total offense, including only 85 yards passing by Wright, who had 336 yards and five touchdowns in his past two games.

“My hat’s off to our defense,” Bland said. “They stepped it up when they had to.”