Huisenga Airmails Cal Lutheran’s 31-17 Victory

In a postcard-like setting, Cal Lutheran played a football game to write home about.

And Ryan Huisenga’s stamp was all over it.

The senior quarterback completed 11 of 15 passes for 189 yards and three touchdowns in under three quarters Saturday as the Kingsmen posted a 31-17 victory over Claremont-Mudd in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game at picturesque Zinda Stadium.

With Huisenga at the controls, the Kingsmen were in command, scoring on each of their first three possessions to take a 21-0 first-quarter advantage.

“We’ve been waiting for this,” Huisenga said.

“To score the first three times in a row felt really good. It gives us confidence that we can score a lot of points fast, and it feels good to win.”

The victory is the second in as many weeks for Cal Lutheran (2-4, 2-1 in conference) after opening the season with four losses.

Huisenga completed seven of his first eight passes for 132 yards, with touchdown plays of 58 and 13 yards to Aaron Hehe in the first quarter.

Including a 21-yard scoring strike to Dwight McNaughton with 44 seconds left in the second quarter, he completed 10 of 12 passes for 179 yards and three touchdowns for the first half.

Huisenga left the game in favor of Zack Hernandez with 8:11 remaining in the third quarter.

Adding balance to a suddenly poised and potent offense was sophomore running back Fredrik Nanhed.

In his second game back after suffering a hamstring injury that sidelined him for four weeks, Nanhed rushed for 140 yards in 21 carries, including a 59-yard touchdown run on Cal Lutheran’s first series.

With that, the Kingsmen were on their way to a 28-3 halftime lead. Tim Cronk closed out the Cal Lutheran scoring with a 42-yard field goal with 7:10 left in the third quarter.

The touchdowns through the air marked a change for the better for Cal Lutheran, which had only one scoring pass going into the game.

Hehe was the primary beneficiary of Huisenga’s success in the air. He made six catches for 135 yards, including five for 126 in the first half.

“Everything was clicking this week,” Hehe said.

“I think this was what we’ve thought our potential was all along. Today we finally executed the way we can.”

The Kingsmen enjoyed good field position throughout and took full advantage, picking up at least one first down on every drive except their last two.

Cal Lutheran amassed 427 total yards and limited the Stags (2-5, 2-2) to 211 yards.

A 24-yard field goal by Woody Bell was the Stags’ only score until the final two minutes, when they put up two touchdowns against Cal Lutheran’s second-string defense.

“We wanted a little bit of a coming-out party,” Cal Lutheran Coach Scott Squires said.

“It was a collective effort, and that’s what has to happen. Everybody has to play, whether they have the ball or not. And that’s kind of what happened.

“All in all, we did a lot of nice things today.”