by Greg MacDonald
Sports Editor
There was some good news and some bad news for the University of La Verne football team at Cal Lutheran last Saturday.
The good news was that the Leopards’ offense finally was able to move the ball consistently throughout the game.
The bad news was that the ULV defense was as cold as the weather in Thousand Oaks, as the Leopards allowed three rushing touchdowns — two in the fourth quarter — in their 38-31 loss to the Kingsmen.
“It was a pretty good game. I think we had a couple things happened that hurt us in the second half,” La Verne head coach Don Morel said. “One was a turnover that they scored off of. We had our first turnover in three games, and they scored off of that.
“We did start to move the ball on offense. It’s good, exciting and promising for next year because everybody comes back. However, we need to pull things together and get ready for Menlo [at home tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.].”
The Leopards nearly pulled it together at the end of the Cal Lu game for a win. With ULV trailing 38-24 with 6:20 left in the fourth quarter, junior quarterback Dan Blahy led his team down the field.
Blahy completed passes to junior quarterback/wide receiver Kyle Spielbuehler and junior wide receivers Kenny Fredieu and Andrew Woolsey, and the Leopards were in business at the Cal Lutheran 5-yard line.
On second down, Blahy faked a hand off up the middle and ran around the right end for a touchdown-scoring quarterback bootleg, pulling the Leopards with seven points at 38-31.
La Verne missed on its onside attempt, but the Leopards’ defense held on three plays, forcing the Kingsmen to punt with 3:11 remaining in the game.
Starting from his own 20-yard line, Blahy led his team once again down the field. On a third-and-nine, Fredieu caught a 7-yard pass, setting up a fourth-and-two at the ULV 40. But Blahy could not pass or rush his way for the first down, as his passing try sailed over the outstretched arms of senior running back Ordell Williams at midfield with a little over a minute to go.
“In the fourth quarter, I thought our defense didn’t play as well as we could have. All year, we have been playing well [on defense], but we had a couple bad breaks when they were running up the middle,” junior linebacker Mike Barreiro said. “I was proud of our offense. Our offense played really well in the second half. The coaches put together a good game plan.”
Part of the plan included Blahy throwing two touchdown passes on consecutive passes in the third and fourth quarters. Just before the third quarter ended, Blahy, on fourth-and-four from the CLU 15, found Woolsey, who has now caught five touchdown passes, in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown.
After the Leopards allowed Cal Lu to score on its next possession, Blahy’s next pass resulted in six points, as he lobbed a pass high down the right side line to Fredieu, who caught it and raced the rest of the way for a 95-yard touchdown strike.
“In the end, we were scrapping because we needed to continue to make plays,” said Blahy, who finished with two touchdown passes and a touchdown run.
“I hope that everyone comes out [against Menlo] and plays the way we have been playing the past few weeks with intensity and passion for the game,” he said. “We were down, and we could have thrown in the towel.”
“I am really proud of this football team,” said Morel, whose team fell to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in SCIAC. “For not being the most talented group of guys, they have hung in there all year. We ended up getting the ball back and made a run.
“Everybody is contributing, and I have nothing but good things to say about this football team. It is a very unselfish group.”
