Lancers Struggle Past Yucca Valley

Maybe Orange Lutheran had the playoff jitters. Or maybe it was looking ahead to next week. Whatever the problem, the third-seeded Lancers got a tougher-than-expected 22-14 first-round playoff victory over Yucca Valley Friday night at Cal State Fullerton.

Yucca Valley (4-6-1) controlled the ball for much of the scoreless first half, using a committee of four running backs and quarterback Kevin Hettig’s solid passing to keep the high-scoring Lancers off the field. When Orange Lutheran did get the ball, it struggled. Quarterback Jason Whieldon, the leading passer in Orange County with a 70% completion rate and 36 touchdown passes, was only two of nine in the first half with an interception.

Orange Lutheran finally got on the board by taking the second-half kickoff and driving 78 yards in seven plays, with Whieldon hitting Ryan Nath for a 15-yard touchdown pass. Then after a Yucca Valley punt, the Lancers drove 70 yards in six plays and took a 14-0 lead when Whieldon ran in from nine yards out.

Yucca Valley came back to cut the lead 14-6 when running back Blake Poist scored from 16 yards out. The Lancers answered less than a minute later when full back Mark Staake scored on a 10-yard run, making the score 22-6.

With the game seemingly in hand, the Lancers botched a punt and Yucca Valley recovered, setting up Hettig’s 18-yard touch down pass to Poist with less than three minutes to play. But an onside kick went out of bounds and the Lancers ran out the clock.