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OC Varsity ~ High school sports talk by the staff of the Orange County Register

What went wrong for OLu and where OLu goes from here

September 13th, 2008, 11:52 pm · 2 Comments · posted by DAN ALBANO, ocvarsity.com

Here's my analysis of Orange Lutheran's stunning loss to Bishop Amat, starting with four of the biggest things that went wrong for Orange County's powerhouse:

1. Turnovers/mistakes - The Lancers committed five turnovers for the second consecutive week. They are minus 9 in the turnover ratio on the season. Bishop Amat capitalized by scoring 28 points off the turnovers. OLu also had a high snap on a punt in the third quarter that led to a Bishop Amat 37-yard field goal attempt but BA missed it. Minus 9 for OLu just sounds crazy.

2. Lack of a running game - Orange Lutheran's Exavier Edwards had 11 carries for 50 yards. The Lancers rushed for only 58 yards as a team. Unlike Mater Dei's offense, I believe OLu wants to run the ball -- at least for now.

3. Defense couldn't get stops and got warn down -- OLu held Bishop Amat to minus 1-yard in the first quarter but Bishop Amat ended up with 291 yards. Tough defenses don't allow as many fourth-down conversions as Orange Lutheran did. I had Bishop Amat 4 for 4 on fourth-down conversions. Orange Lutheran has an aggressive and hard-hitting defense but it isn't physically imposing and they has some key two-way players. OLu needs stops. In the second quarter, when Bishop Amat drove 76 yards over 7:36 for its first touchdown, converting two fourth-downs along the way, Orange Lutheran had to be concerned.

In contrast, OLu's defense helped give its offense starting field possession at the 50, Bishop Amat's 45, 22 and 30-yard lines to open the game.

4. Jerry McClanahan -- OLu couldn't catch Bishop Amat's QB enough. OLu had three sacks but the junior hurt OLu many times by escaping trouble.

Where Orange Lutheran goes from here:

1. Up -- OLu is still a major contender in the Trinity League and Pac-5 Division. OLu probably played a D-level game by its standard and still scored 39 points and was hard to put away. OLu needs to take of the ball, however, and stay confident. JW North looks like another tough nonleague game but Olu starts league with JSerra. Servite's size and ability to sustain drives does loom problematic. But maybe BA gave OLu the wake up call it needed.

2. Get Davonte Anderson healthy. The senior starting CB is out with a collarbone injury. His return could open up more time for Gabe Lemon at receiver or Kyle Dravis at running back. Lemon and Terrence Brown need more touches on offense. Dravis might be able to help share the load with Edwards. And speaking of Edwards, I see him more like Murle Sango of El Toro-fame than Ricky Pemasa right now. He needs more receptions.

3. Get Scotty Williams involved earlier. I didn't have the Army-bound receiver with a catch in the first half but he looked good in the second half.

4. Kapono Asuega needs help on the DL. All three of the OLu's sacks came from its linebackers. OLu's linemen will need to be a force. Shane Sullivan looked Ayles-esque on offense but perhaps he can do the same at DE.

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