Football: Orange Lutheran 54, Santa Margarita 14

It was a disappointing result after last week’s upset of Mater Dei.

Still, there’s an outside chance they can make the playoffs—but the same can be said for all Trinity League teams.

Score: Orange Lutheran 54, Santa Margarita Catholic 14

Key Stats: Santa Margarita committed five turnovers that led to 30 points. Luke Langdon rushed for 85 yards and two touchdowns, and passed for 51 yards and two touchdowns, to lead Orange Lutheran.

Pivotal Moment: Santa Margarita stopped the Lancers offense late in the first quarter with an interception by Ryan Andrew at midfield. Two plays later, Kyle Sweet’s pass was batted into the air by a lineman and it was intercepted by Matt Hernandez. The exchange of turnovers set the tone for the night. Seven plays later, Luke Langdon passed 12 yards to Adam Connette for a 21-7 lead. The interception was the first of four consecutive drives that would end in turnovers by the Eagles.  

Quotable: “They’re banged, bruised and depleted,” Coach Harry Welch said of his Santa Margarita players. “There’s a limit to what you can do when you’re banged, bruised and depleted. To prepare for OLu is a nightmare.”

Quotable II: "We won this game on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday," second-year coach Chuck Petersen said of his OLu players, who bounced back from a 20-19 loss to Servite a week ago. "I'm proud of them after what happened last week. They deserved something good to happen to them."

Records: Orange Lutheran (7-2 overall, 2-2 in Trinity League), Santa Margarita (4-5, 1-3)

Notes: Santa Margarita committed five turnovers in the first half. … Those turnovers led to 30 points for Orange Lutheran, beginning with Aisea Tongilava’s 11-yard fumble return after the Santa Margarita punter dropped the snap on the opening possession. … Santa Margarita tied the score at 7-7 after recovering a muffed punt to keep a drive alive; Kyle Sweet escaped a tackle in the backfield and passed 24 yards to Alec McNiff. … The Eagles also scored on their opening possession of the third quarter on a great over-the-shoulder catch by Sweet from K.J. Costello. Sweet turned from his right shoulder to his left to make the catch for a 44-yard score, making the deficit 40-14. … The Eagles had no answer for OLu’s triple-option ground game. Patrick Reardon scored on runs of 33 and 79 yards, and Luke Langdon scored on runs of 6 and 5 yards. … Both of Langdon’s TD passes were to Connette, of 12 and 2 yards. … Jerry Fitschen kicked field goals of 32 and 41 yards, the latter as time expired on the first half, for a 40-7 lead. ... Lutheran, which suffered a heart-breaking last-play loss a week ago to Servite on a Hail Mary pass, can guarantee a playoff berth with a win next week against Mater Dei. … Santa Margarita isn’t out of the playoffs either as long as it beats JSerra next week, but needs Orange Lutheran to beat Mater Dei, Bosco to beat Servite, and then coin flips. ... Welch was honored before the game and given an Eagle statuette and gift certificate.