Santa Margarita defeats Orange Lutheran in Harry Welch’s return

Cory Thomson scored three touchdowns and Santa Margarita’s defense forced five turnovers in a 27-15 victory over Orange Lutheran in a Trinity League opener Friday night at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.

It was an emotional game for the Eagles (5-1), playing for the first time since Coach Harry Welch had surgery for prostate cancer Oct. 4. He was back on the sideline Friday and his team needed every bit of his football wisdom to grind out a win over a determined opponent that had won its previous three meetings against Santa Margarita by an average of 17.6 points.

Thomson scored his third touchdown on a pitch from 16 yards out with 2:15 remaining to provide the final margin after Orange Lutheran quarterback Conner Sullivan fumbled the snap and Santa Margarita, ranked No. 18 in the Southland by The Times, recovered at the Lancers’ 30-yard line with the Eagles leading 20-15.

After being forced to punt for only the sixth time all season, visiting Santa Margarita caught a break when punt returner Robby Cooper signaled for a fair catch, only to have the ball bounce off his shoulder pads. The Eagles recovered the fumble at their own 46-yard line but failed to capitalize when John McGrory was short on a 33-yard field goal attempt, leaving the score 20-15.

Josh Cornelius booted a 25-yard field goal to give Orange Lutheran its only lead of the second half, 15-14, with 3:53 remaining in the third quarter. The Lancers (3-3) drove 80 yards in 16 plays, almost all of the yardage coming on the legs of running back Jabari Wilson, who finished with 86 yards in 14 carries.

Thomson scored on a 45-yard screen pass from starting quarterback Adam Young as Santa Margarita needed just three plays to regain the lead, 20-15, with 2:57 left in the third quarter, but Thomson was tackled short of the goal line on the two-point conversion run.

Demetrius Palmer took a quick handoff and scored from one yard out, capping a 14-play, 80-yard drive that pulled Orange Lutheran to within two points, 14-12, with 15 seconds left in the first half. The Lancers tried a double reverse on the two-point conversion, but Wilson was gang tackled at the one-yard line.

Thomson scored his first touchdown on a 27-yard run to increase Santa Margarita’s lead to 14-6 with 7:32 left in the second quarter. Johnny Stanton set up the score with a 29-yard interception return to the Lancers’ 31-yard line.

Logan Sweet caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Young and McGrory’s extra point gave the Eagles a 7-6 lead with 7:32 left in the second quarter.

After stopping Santa Margarita on fourth down, the Lancers took over and drove 40 yards in three plays, capped by Wilson’s seven-yard run that gave them a 6-0 lead with 7:34 left in the first quarter. Sullivan’s two-point conversion pass was over the head of his receiver.

Thomson finished with 88 yards in 16 carries and caught two passes for 98 yards. Young threw for 152 yards and rushed for 69 for Santa Margarita, which has already scored more points than it did all of last season.

Sullivan completed 20 of 29 passes for 155 yards and two interceptions for Orange Lutheran, which trailed 14-12 at halftime. The Lancers play No. 24-ranked Mater Dei (4-2) on Thursday.

The 65-year-old Welch, in his first year at Santa Margarita, improved to 227-50-2 in 22 seasons and is 58-2 dating back to Week 4 of the 2006 season. He has won eight Southern Section titles and is the only person to coach two different teams (Canyon Country Canyon and San Juan Capistrano St. Margaret’s) to state bowl championships.

Santa Margarita is off to its best start since winning its first six games of the 2006 season.

— Steve Galluzzo

L.A. Jordan cruises

Quarterback Justin Lewis passed for 167 yards and two touchdowns and running back Abdul Castaneda rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown in 13 carries to propel host Jordan to a 29-3 victory over L.A. Roosevelt.

The Bulldogs (4-3, 2-1) dominated from start to finish, taking a 15-3 halftime lead and stifling a Rough Riders offense that was missing top running backs Elgin Rosales (concussion) and Jesse Lira (knee).

Roosevelt (5-2, 2-1) committed two first-half turnovers and was successful on only two of six fourth-down attempts.

Jordan unveiled a multi-dimensional attack behind Lewis and Castaneda.

“That’s the new Jordan,” Bulldogs Coach Sheron Butler said of his team’s diversified offense. “We want to keep teams off balance.”

— Ben Bolch

Manfro leads Valencia

Unstoppable Steven Manfro ran for 419 yards and five touchdowns on 16 carries to lead the Vikings over cross-town rival West Ranch, 55-28, in the Foothill League opener for both at Valencia High.

Manfro scored on runs of 59, 78, 54, 71 and 4 yards, giving him 26 touchdowns and more than 1,850 all-purpose yards on the season for No. 21 Valencia (5-1, 1-0), which also got a pair of scoring passes from quarterback Alex Bishop.

Senior Connor Eichten threw three touchdown passes for West Ranch (3-3, 0-1), with two going to Josh Guzman.

— Kevin Baxter

Quick hits

Richie Harrington completed 12 of 21 passes for 200 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for No. 10 Oaks Christian (4-2, 4-1) as No. 16 Thousand Oaks (4-2, 3-2) nearly came back from a 28-7 deficit at the start of the fourth quarter. Oaks Christian won, 28-26. The Lancers scored their final touchdown with 36 seconds left in regulation, but failed on their two-point conversion attempt. Jordan Payton, who scored the winning touchdown late in the third quarter on a 33-yard reception, finished with two touchdowns in the first Marmonte League meeting between the two teams…. Dallas Kessman scored four touchdowns and rushed for 186 yards as top-ranked Mission Viejo (7-0, 1-0) opened South Coast League play with a 52-26 victory over Dana Hills (3-4, 0-1)