Parra Last Action Hero for Cal Lutheran in Thriller : College football: Receiver catches 35-yard touchdown pass with 1:55 to play in 37-34 victory.

The question during Cal Lutheran’s 37-34 victory over Claremont-Mudd on Saturday was not who would be the hero but who would be the last hero.

The title rests with Billy Parra, a junior receiver who caught a 35-yard touchdown pass with 1 minute 55 seconds to play, retaking the lead for the Kingsmen at Stag Field. The game was the season- and Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

“I think I just fulfilled one of my dreams,” Parra said, “catching a game-winning touchdown pass.”

Parra, a Kennedy High graduate who transferred from Cal State Chico, also caught a pass on a fourth-and-four play from the Claremont 43, extending the decisive drive with 2:47 to play.

Parra caught 12 passes, tying a school record, for 179 yards. But until the last three minutes, the hero looked to be Claremont quarterback John Shipp, who completed 27 of 43 passes for 377 yards and four touchdowns. Shipp also ran for 51 yards.

Shipp, who led the SCIAC in all-purpose yardage last season, rallied the Stags from a 10-point deficit in the final quarter.

Shipp drove Claremont 70 yards in 86 seconds after the Kingsmen had taken a 30-20 lead. On Claremont’s next possession, he drove the team 67 yards in three minutes for another score, giving the Stags a 34-30 lead with 4:12 to play.

At that point, the Kingsmen looked to be on the verge of losing to a team that last season snapped a 25-game winless streak, a team that Cal Lutheran beat, 44-9, in the teams’ last meeting.

After the kickoff the Kingsmen started at their 37, and the drive reached a critical juncture three plays later with Cal Lutheran facing a fourth down.

“At that fourth down, Coach (Joe Harper) looked at me and said, ‘Can you do it?,’ ” Parra said. “And I said, ‘Yeah.’ ”

Quarterback Ryan Huisenga scrambled and hit Parra for a 19-yard gain. Three plays later, on third and eight, Huisenga found Parra over the middle and behind the secondary for the winning score.

“We saw that play was open early in the game,” Parra said, “and Coach said we’d go to it sooner or later.”

Huisenga finished the game 21 of 37 for 257 yards.

Claremont’s final drive was stopped when defensive back Nick Estrada intercepted a pass at the Kingsmen 28 with 40 seconds remaining.

Interceptions were a problem for both teams. Shipp threw three, one in the Cal Lutheran end zone in the second quarter.

Huisenga threw two interceptions in the third quarter, to Bryan Coin, and Claremont turned both into touchdowns. The third-quarter swing brought Claremont from a 23-7 deficit to within 23-20.

Complicating matters for Cal Lutheran was the loss of tailback Terrence Thomas, who gained 125 yards in 21 carries in the first three quarters. Thomas was bothered by a sore elbow so coaches held him out as a precaution.

Jason Higbee replaced Thomas and led a 69-yard scoring drive that rebuilt Cal Lutheran’s lead to 10, but that was when Claremont began the second-most-exciting comeback of the game.

“There was good and ugly in this game,” Harper said, “but not too much in between.”