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Lancers Bounce Back to Win

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Times Staff Writer

Orange Lutheran turned the tables Friday night on Santa Margarita, scoring 22 unanswered points in the second half to secure a 22-19 nonleague victory at Saddleback College.

The Lancers, ranked No. 9 in the Southland by The Times, scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1 minute 7 seconds left on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Corp to Kyle Cordova.

“A complete turnaround,” Corp said. Three of his passes were intercepted in the first half.

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Fifth-ranked Santa Margarita had forced four turnovers in the first half and held the Lancers to 79 total yards in building a 19-0 lead.

Lutheran (3-0) finally got its offense rolling to start the second half. After Ricky Pemasa returned the kickoff to the Lancer 45, Corp made a great fake on an option on his way to a 55-yard scoring run, cutting the lead to 19-7 just 19 seconds into the second half.

The Lancers then put together a 13-play, 77-yard drive on their next possession and cut the lead to 19-14 on a one-yard run by Alex Pemasa with 2:23 left in the third quarter.

Orange Lutheran missed a golden opportunity to cut further into the lead when Blake Ayles recovered a fumble by John Angelo at the Santa Margarita 16-yard line late in the third quarter, but the Lancers could not get a first down on four plays.

The Lancers started their next two drives in Eagle territory but could not take advantage. On its final scoring drive, Lutheran took over at midfield with 2:45 remaining and moved the ball inside the Santa Margarita 30, in part because of two defensive holding penalties, one of which negated an interception by Ryan Maxwell. Two plays later, Corp found Cardova in the corner of the end zone for the winning touchdown.

The Eagles (2-1) looked to be in command from the start. J.D. Dawson recovered a fumble by Orange Lutheran on its first offensive series and the Eagles responded by driving 60 yards in 11 plays, taking a 6-0 lead on a two-yard touchdown pass from Jon Daniels to Maxwell.

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After Orange Lutheran recovered one of two fumbles by the Eagles in the first half, the Lancers marched to the Santa Margarita one-yard line, but Angelo batted a down a third-down pass from Corp and Maxwell intercepted his fourth-down attempt.

The most costly turnover occurred later in the second quarter, when Corp tried to pass to Allen Cadreau, who was streaking down the sideline. However, Cadreau never turned for the ball and Angelo did, intercepting the pass and returning it 45 yards for a touchdown with 2:57 remaining in the half.

Maxwell gathered his second interception on Lutheran’s next possession, setting up a five-yard touchdown run by Angelo.

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