Cal Lutheran Has No Defense for La Verne

Cal Lutheran’s sieve-like defense--just about everything gets through--made its debut at home Saturday against La Verne, a week after its unveiling at Redlands.

La Verne defeated Cal Lutheran, 55-37, in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game. The Leopards, led by All-American quarterback Willie Reyna and running back Darren Maclellan, poured through the Kingsmen defense like water, racking up 651 yards--the most allowed by a CLU team.

Last week, Cal Lutheran was trounced by Redlands, 56-24, and gave up a then-school-record 585 yards.

Reyna threw for 373 yards and six touchdowns and Maclellan rushed for 268 yards, matching the effort last week of Redlands fullback Sean Cheatham.

“It was not very pretty,” Cal Lutheran Coach Joe Harper said. “It was not a lot of fun.”

It was for a while. The teams traded score after score in the first half, and La Verne (6-1-1, 4-1 in the SCIAC) led at halftime by only four points, 35-31. But the Kingsmen (3-5, 2-3) played catch-up the entire half and never demonstrated the ability to slow Reyna and Co.

“It felt like if we didn’t score on every possession, we were going to be behind,” said Harper, whose team piled up 608 yards. “That’s pretty much what happened.”

The pressure continued in the second half. La Verne started with the ball at its own 30-yard line and two plays later was in the end zone. Maclellan’s 54-yard burst moved the ball to the Kingsmen 16 and Reyna connected with Craig Stewart on the next play for a touchdown.

Cal Lutheran then drove to the Leopard 12-yard line, mainly on the strength of Cassidy O’Sullivan’s 55-yard run. But O’Sullivan and quarterback Adam Hacker muffed a handoff and La Verne recovered at its own 15.

Reyna promptly drove La Verne to another touchdown, capping a 10-play, 85-yard drive with a one-yard plunge.

Suddenly, the score was 49-31 and Cal Lutheran was out of it.

The Kingsmen were forced to abandon their running game, and their next three possessions ended in a punt and two interceptions.

Cal Lutheran managed to trim La Verne’s lead to 49-37 midway through the fourth quarter on Hacker’s three-yard scoring pass to Len Bradley, but again Reyna directed a long touchdown march, effectively ending the game.

“We gave it all we had,” Bradley said. “We dealt all game long with adversity--their offense.”

O’Sullivan gained 183 yards in 21 carries and scored twice, and Bradley caught 11 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown. Hacker passed for three touchdowns and a personal-high 373 yards but also threw three interceptions. Hacker’s previous best was 263 yards last week against Redlands.