Going for the Payoff

Lorenzo Booker’s goal to win all of his football games as tailback for Ventura St. Bonaventure High can become reality this weekend.

Only one obstacle remains--Orange Lutheran, an underdog that most don’t figure can stop the St. Bonaventure juggernaut Saturday in the Southern Section Division XI championship game.

There are good reasons the Seraphs are favored to win a third consecutive championship against the team it defeated a year ago for the title, 34-16. Booker, the state’s career leading rusher, is one of them. Junior receiver Whitney Lewis, courted by the top colleges in the nation, is another. And James Bonelli, an offensive lineman going to Notre Dame, is a third. It’s little wonder why the team has a 40-game winning streak, having not lost since falling to Santa Monica St. Monica in overtime in the 1998 quarterfinals.

“There’s all sorts of people on the Internet talking to our guys, telling them it’s a foregone conclusion we’ll win,” St. Bonaventure Coach John Mack said. “To assume victory is a fatal mistake. I’m certainly nervous about it.”

Why is Mack so nervous when everyone else seems so confident?

Because St. Bonaventure’s lead going into the fourth quarter last year was 21-16.

Because Orange Lutheran committed seven turnovers, two on passes intercepted in the end zone.

Because St. Bonaventure scored 21 points off turnovers.

“If they don’t turn the ball over last year,” Mack said, “they win the game.”

And so Orange Lutheran (10-1-2) will take the field at Ventura High believing in itself, even if few others do.

“We knew in summer and spring that we had to prepare for this game,” said Robin Olson, a linebacker for Orange Lutheran.

There are reasons to like Orange Lutheran. The Lancers annually bulk up their schedule, so much so that next season they will play Santa Ana Mater Dei. This season, the Lancers added Anaheim Servite to a schedule that already had Newport Beach Newport Harbor and Irvine--teams that played for the Division VI title a year ago.

“We’ve upgraded our schedule every year,” said Jim Kunau, Orange Lutheran’s coach for nine seasons. “Our mission [statement] revolves around faith development, character development and academic excellence. I think you’re far more likely to achieve those things when players have to prepare in the best possible way and learn through adversity.

“I don’t think you gain anything when things are easy.”

Orange Lutheran’s only loss is to Division I Servite, falling behind, 26-0, at halftime before losing, 26-22. The Lancers’ ties are against Division VI schools, Irvine, 21-21, and Division VI semifinalist Newport Harbor, 7-7.

The Lancers also defeated another Division VI semifinalist, Laguna Hills, 17-13, and a Division I team, Huntington Beach Marina, 42-35.

Those close games provide Orange Lutheran with its only obvious advantage over St. Bonaventure. The Lancers are familiar with having to make plays at crunch time, and St. Bonaventure is not. The major challenge this season for St. Bonaventure was supposed to come against Newhall Hart, but it was canceled because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The Seraphs’ closest game was a 28-13 victory in Week 1 against Dos Palos, a small-school power in the Central Section.

“Our guys are used to winning, which is a great problem to have,” Mack said, acknowledging that his players aren’t used to making plays with the outcome in the balance.

And that’s all the Lancers want, a chance in the fourth quarter.

“We played a rigorous [nonleague] schedule that I think prepares us for this,” said David Heim, an Orange Lutheran safety. “If we can keep our mistakes to a minimum, I think we can hang with them.”

And if they do?

“This is our second year in the championship, we’re not first-timers,” said Chaz Guinn, a Lancer receiver. “We’re accustomed to what this game is all about.”