Centennial overcomes early turnovers in 35-14 victory over Orange Lutheran

Corona Centennial Coach Matt Logan has dealt with a slow start or two in his nearly two-decade career, so perhaps it was a matter of working through another one to reach a milestone.

Centennial was set back by three first-half turnovers before it pulled away for a 35-14 win Friday against Orange Lutheran that marked Logan’s 200th career win.

Logan’s players tried to dump a bucket of Gatorade on him but missed.

“They got the back side,” Logan said. “The small side.”

Logan didn’t put much weight into the milestone after the Huskies, ranked No. 1 in the Southland, held off a brief Orange Lutheran surge in the second half and prevailed with its stars.

Arizona commit J.J. Taylor ran for 135 yards and three touchdowns and Javon McKinley had 10 catches for 213 yards and two touchdowns.

“Honestly, it’s more important the way we had to battle through this game and get better as a team, because that’s going to be way better for us in the long run,” Logan said.

Lutheran pulled to within 28-14 and drove to Centennial’s 19-yard line before Chacho Ulloa intercepted a pass by L.J. Northington.

Northington passed for 248 yards but the Lancers were held to seven points in the second half.

“I think we gained even more confidence, even though we didn’t win,” Lutheran Coach Chuck Petersen said. “We played against one of America’s best and we gave them, really, a heck of a ballgame. But we lost, and we didn’t want to be out here to just look good.”

Orange Lutheran turned heads last week with a 43-28 victory over Encino Crespi. The win served notice that the Lancers would be a factor in the loaded Trinity League, one of the toughest leagues in the state.

So it wasn’t a complete surprise that they were tied with the Huskies, 7-7, at halftime.

Milshon Lathan was almost single-handedly responsible with two recovered fumbles and an interception that set up a 13-play drive, capped by Northington’s 18-yard touchdown pass to Brandon McKinney.

The Huskies otherwise forced Lutheran into three straight three-and-outs in the first half but couldn’t take full advantage because of its turnovers.

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