Los Amigos Can’t Stay With Orange Lutheran

Los Amigos’ stay in the top 10 was a short one. The Lobos started quickly, scoring on their second play from scrimmage, but things went downhill from there as 10th-ranked Los Amigos was soundly beaten by Orange Lutheran, 42-20, Friday night in a nonleague game at Brea Olinda High.

Orange Lutheran tailback Dee Meza led the Lancers’ rout with 194 yards and three touchdowns in 12 carries. He also had a 57-yard touchdown romp called back because of a penalty.

“Isn’t he amazing,” Lancer wide receiver Jeff Renevier said. “He’s always had it in him. He got to show it off against a good team.”

Renevier wasn’t so bad himself as he caught eight passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns against Los Amigos’ bewildered secondary.

“We knew the linebackers were the strength of their team, but we figured we could pass on their secondary,” Renevier said.

Orange Lutheran piled up more than 500 yards of offense, while Los Amigos struggled to sustain an offensive attack. If not for the running of tailback Andrew Niumata (177 yards, three touchdowns), the Lobos would have been in real trouble. Orange Lutheran’s defense bottled up Lobo quarterback Ao Sualua, holding him to seven yards on the ground and 78 in the air on four of 14 passing.

“I had a bad feeling about this game,” Los Amigos Coach Roger Takahashi said. “We had three bad weeks of double-days. I was hoping we weren’t going to learn our lesson on the field. We got exactly what we deserved. We weren’t very prepared.”

Orange Lutheran might have been over-prepared. The Lancers were ready to atone for a 42-16 loss two weeks ago in Florida against Tallahassee North Florida Christian.

“We had to come out and show the people of Orange County that we can play ball,” Renevier said. “We might have embarrassed them in Florida, but weren’t about to tonight.”

Orange Lutheran’s offense was well-directed by quarterback Jason Whieldon, who passed for 190 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 98 yards in 11 carries.