Cathedral runs all over Lutheran
S.D. CATHEDRAL 71 O. LUTHERAN 62
State football playoff matchups are supposed to be based on competitive equity, and Friday night’s Division 1-AA regional bowl game involving San Diego Cathedral and Orange Lutheran at Orange Coast College produced a wild back-and-forth offensive slugfest.
Lucky Sutton, a senior running back with a scholarship offer from San Diego State, had touchdown runs of 62, 45 and 63 yards for Cathedral. Desmin Jackson of Orange Lutheran had touchdown runs of 18, 42 and 76 yards.
The score was tied at 7-7, 13-13, 27-27 and 34-34. By the end of the third quarter, Cathedral held a 43-41 lead after Jaylen Lynch caught a 38-yard touchdown pass from Logan Gonzalez with three seconds left.
Ultimately, Sutton finished with 435 yards rushing and seven touchdowns as Cathedral outlasted Lutheran 71-62.
After a wild second quarter that featured seven touchdowns, the third saw more offense. Darian Whaley ran 51 yards for a touchdown on Cathedral’s first possession of the second half for a 34-27 lead. Then Jackson ran 76 yards for a touchdown to tie the score at 34-34. Tanoai Letuli sacked Gonzalez in the end zone for a safety and a 36-34 Cathedral lead. Sutton followed with a 63-yard touchdown run and a 43-34 lead.
The first half was as entertaining as it gets for fans of offense. It ended with quarterback Charlie Mirer completing a 15-yard touchdown pass to Deric Woo, then connecting on a two-point conversion pass for a 27-27 halftime tie.
Gonzalez had touchdown passes of 35 yards to Lynch and 33 yards to Malik Blackmon. Jackson rushed for 126 yards in nine carries in the first half and had touchdown runs of 18 and 42 yards.Sutton flashed his speed in scoring on touchdown runs of 62 and 45 yards and also caught a touchdown pass.
Cathedral was running the Delaware wing T but hardly focusing on just rushing the ball. The Lancers struggled having tacklers able to confront Sutton after an initial attempt. Once he eluded the first tackler, twice there was no one to finish the job and he simply outran his pursuers. He had 178 yards rushing in the first two quarters.
One reason Southern Section Division 2 champion Orange Lutheran has been making weekly improvement since the late summer hiring of first-year coach Rod Sherman is because of his staff of assistants.
The offensive coordinator is former Orange Lutheran and USC quarterback Aaron Corp. Coaching the offensive line is former Santa Ana Mater Dei and UCLA lineman Chris Ward. The fact players from USC and UCLA can get along shows that Sherman knows how to pick assistants.
“Aaron didn’t finish there, so it made it easier,” Sherman said.
Corp transferred to Richmond after playing for USC and was coaching at Norfolk State when Sherman invited him to return to the school he helped win a state Division II bowl in 2006.
“I don’t think I would have come for any other offer,” Corp said.
Ward, a former Mater Dei assistant, opened an offensive line coaching business when he was recruited by Sherman to return to high school coaching. He has been influential in the rise of lineman Zachary Miller, who has an offer from Colorado.