Cal Lutheran Again Folds in Fourth Quarter, Falls to Redlands

The frustration level is rising for the Cal Lutheran football team.

For the fourth consecutive week, the Kingsmen entered the late stages of a game with a great opportunity to win. Saturday against Redlands, an interception and two second-half fumbles by Cal Lutheran helped the host Bulldogs to a 23-7 victory in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game.

“Right now it’s almost laughable,” Cal Lutheran Coach Joe Harper said. “There’s no question they are trying hard to win, but they might be trying too hard.”

Trailing, 10-7, early in the fourth quarter, Cal Lutheran (1-4, 1-3 in conference play) drove to the Redlands 27-yard line but Ryan Huisenga’s pass was intercepted by Chad Freese.

“We drive the field all day and we got seven points the whole game,” Huisenga said. “Ninety-five percent of the time we play well, but that last five we make mistakes and it kills us.”

Three plays later, Matt Figueroa ran untouched 67 yards to give the Bulldogs (3-1-1, 2-0) a 17-7 lead with 8 minutes 40 seconds to play.

Any chance Cal Lutheran had for a comeback disappeared when Chad Valousky muffed a punt return and Freese recovered at the Kingsmen two-yard line. Figueroa scored on the next play.

The Bulldogs took the lead for good midway through the third quarter when Redlands linebacker Joe Kelly recovered a fumble by Terrence Thomas at the Kingsmen six-yard line. Tomek Mikler’s 23-yard field goal gave Redlands a 10-7 lead.

Thomas led Cal Lutheran with 111 yards in 24 carries but had two fumbles. Huisenga completed 21 of 38 passes for 225 yards to give the Kingsmen a balanced attack. Receiver Billy Parra caught six passes for 98 yards and fullback Ivan Moreno had five receptions.

Redlands took a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter when quarterback Bobby Hendrix and receiver Mark Manuel connected on a 66-yard play.

Cal Lutheran responded late in the quarter with a six-play, 62-yard drive to tie the score. Huisenga and Parra connected on a 30-yard play to put the team in scoring position, and Parra caught a seven-yard touchdown pass with one second left in the quarter.