La Verne Teaches Cal Lutheran a Lesson, 34-10

THOUSAND OAKS —  If the Cal Lutheran football players were the students, the University of La Verne was their teacher.

The Kingsmen, seeking to grow, improve and learn in the early part of the season, believed they did all three Saturday, despite a 34-10 loss at the hands of the Leopards in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener at Cal Lutheran’s Mt. Clef Stadium.

In their second game under Coach Scott Squires, the Kingsmen learned they’re not ready to go to the head of the SCIAC class, where La Verne has been for three years.

“We’re going to grow, we’re going to get better,” said Cal Lutheran quarterback Ryan Huisenga, who completed 20 of 48 passes for 210 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

“I thought we played well. We just didn’t play well enough, and they were doing pretty good,” Huisenga said. “They’re always tough.”

La Verne (1-1) proved too tough for Cal Lutheran (0-2), which lost its grip on a close game in the second half for the second time in two weeks.

The Kingsmen were done in primarily by Anthony Rice and Ryan Hawkins.

Rice, a senior, finished with 194 yards rushing, including touchdown runs of four and 45 yards. The Leopards had 270 rushing yards and 415 total yards.

Hawkins, a junior, completed only six of 19 passes but they went for 145 yards and one touchdown. He had two passes intercepted, by defensive backs Mark Williams and Stan Rohn.

“We really focused on this game; we did a good job getting ready for this game,” Hawkins said. “We did what we wanted.”

Cal Lutheran, meanwhile, was held to 282 yards, and was hurt by untimely penalties, mistakes and an inability to take full advantage of offensive opportunities.

Twice in the second half, Cal Lutheran moved into La Verne territory and was unable to score. In another instance, the Kingsmen settled for a field goal, and on another possession, Huisenga’s pass was intercepted by Mike Dillard, who ran 23 yards for a touchdown and a 21-7 lead with 8:42 to go in the third quarter.

Cal Lutheran’s Jeff Shea, an NCAA Division III All-American last season, punted 10 times for an average of 46.7, with one kick of 63 yards.

Bill Busch rushed for 53 yards in 20 carries for the Kingsmen, who were without the services of sophomore standout Fredrik Nanhed, who gained 1,380 yards last year but suffered a hamstring injury in last week’s opener.

Without Nanhed, the Kingsmen took to the air. Aaron Hehe made seven receptions for 102 yards and a touchdown, Dwight McNaughton had six for 70 yards and Ernie Foli five for 56.