Strong Defense Helps Orange Lutheran to Victory

Orange Lutheran’s defense turned in a consistent effort and the offense had just enough bright moments to beat Woodbridge, 21-10, Thursday at Irvine High.

Orange Lutheran’s touchdowns came on big plays, passes of 78 and 40 yards and a run of 33. Otherwise, the Lancers struggled, in part because of penalties. A holding call erased a 24-yard touchdown pass and two illegal procedure flags knocked out runs of 25 and 24 yards.

“I’m very proud of our defensive effort,” Orange Lutheran Coach Jim Kunau said. “That was the key. The defense seemed to rise up every time we needed them.”

Woodbridge’s Farhood Rabii scored on a four-yard run midway in the third quarter to cut the Orange Lutheran lead to 14-10. But the Warriors (2-3) turned over the ball on downs twice, punted twice and fumbled the rest of the way.

Orange Lutheran’s David Heim took an inside reverse and went 33 yards for a touchdown to give the Lancers a 21-10 lead with 2 minutes 26 seconds left in the game.

Heim finished with 70 yards rushing and caught five passes for 65 yards.

Orange Lutheran (3-2) also got two touchdown passes from quarterback Casey Whieldon, who alternated with junior Jason Taylor. Whieldon threw a screen in the right flat that senior tight end Josh Goedl turned into a 40-yard scoring play in the first quarter.

Orange Lutheran started well in the second half when Whieldon threw up a pass and Talmage, who is 6 feet 4, beat two defenders on his way to completing a 78-yard pass play for a touchdown.

Talmage also had a strong game on special teams. He kicked two extra points, had a punt of 56 yards and two more punts that were downed inside the Woodbridge 10.

He also recovered a fumble on the kickoff after Heim’s touchdown.