by Eric C. Paulsen
Editor in Chief
It is an old saying that “defense wins championships,” and the rest of the SCIAC is learning that the University of La Verne has a dominant one.
Their defense helped the Leos in a come-from-behind victory over Cal Lutheran University last Saturday in Thousand Oaks, 23-6.
“I think that here at La Verne we have developed an attitude about winning, they find a way to win, losing never crosses their minds,” said Head Coach Rex Huigens.
La Verne’s defense played tough the entire game, holding the Kingsmen to 128 yards of total offense. But it elevated its play to another level in the second half, keeping Cal Lu stifled to minus 37 yards and not allowing a first down.
“We made a couple adjustments at halftime. The biggest adjustment was in attitude,” Huigens said.
The defense also limited one of the nation’s premier Division III running backs, Cal Lu senior Terrence Thomas, to 81 yards rushing. Thomas came in averaging 174.5 yards per game. But the Leos made him a non-factor, as he only gained 26 yards in the second half.
“Every week we prioritize the opponent’s offense, and [Thomas] was definitely our main priority,” said Huigens.
Although it was a complete effort from the defense, two linebackers stood out for the Leos—junior Sean Fenison, with 11 tackles, and senior Lou Parra, with nine.
Against Cal Lu, ULV found itself in a position it had not been in this season when it trailed at halftime, 6-3.
“We weren’t as up as we would have liked to be; we didn’t make adjustments early,” said Huigens.
The two teams played evenly for the first half. The Leos were hit hard by penalties, being penalized five times for 48 yards, keeping the Leos off the scoreboard for most of the first half.
“A demoralizing thing was the penalties. We would get something going then get penalized,” explained Huigens.
Cal Lu was content with trying to run out the clock and go into halftime leading 6-0. Junior fullback Ivan Moreno fumbled on his first carry, however, giving the Leos another chance. Junior kicker Juan Contreras then connected on a 33-yard field goal with 49 seconds to go.
The lone score for the Kingsmen came in the second quarter. CLU moved the ball 61 yards on 14 plays, capped by 15-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Ryan Huisenga to junior wide receiver Billy Parra.
When the second half began, so did the Leos offense, scoring 20 unanswered points.
Senior free safety Kurt Van Fossen said, “The defense knew that the offense was struggling and we knew that we needed to step up our play to get them started. They had carried the defense at times, so it was our turn to carry them.”
Senior Darren MacLellan, who has emerged as the featured running back for the Leos, had 205 yards rushing, his second 200-yard game of the season. MacLellan also added a touchdown in the fourth quarter for the final score of the game.
The La Verne running attack was a constant force throughout the game and began to dominate noticeably late in the third and fourth quarters as the offensive line created huge holes for the running backs. The offensive line is getting respect around the league, as senior Jeff Drouin earned the SCAIC’s offensive player of the week honors.
Senior Bill Battin, a wide receiver, had a strong game, making first downs and keeping many drives alive, before being knocked out of the game with an ankle injury. He is questionable for tomorrow’s game against Whittier.
When the fourth quarter ended, the Leos found themselves on top, winning 23-6 and keeping their championship dreams alive for another week.
“[The coaches] were happy with the win and impressed with how we picked up the intensity,” said Van Fossen.
With the win, ULV stayed undefeated in league, with a 2-0 mark, and 4-0 overall. The team currently has a streak of 11 straight SCIAC wins. They will be putting that streak on the line when they travel to play the Poets at 7 p.m. tomorrow.
The Poets currently have a SCIAC record of 0-2, after getting buried by Claremont-Mudd, 49-28, last weekend.
“It is a little scary because they haven’t won a game and they are going to be hungry, you don’t know what to expect. I think, as the defending league champs, beating us would make their season,” commented Huigens.
Huigens isn’t worried about his team not getting focused for Whittier. “We aren’t thinking past Whittier. When you are 4-0, you don’t want to screw it up and look past them. I think we will win though,” said Huigens.
“We want to put some variety into the offense. But if we do something and it works, than we are going to stay with it,” he said.
Eric C. Paulsen
