by Matt Paulson
Sports Editor
The University of La Verne football team dropped its second straight Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference competition last Saturday to the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen by a score of 30-6.
The defeat, which dropped ULV to 1-2 in SCIAC and 1-3 overall and gave Cal Lu its first win of the season, continues a three-game road losing streak for the Leopards.
The first quarter found matching goose eggs on the scoreboard when time expired.
Late in the second quarter, it appeared that the same results would be posted at the buzzer. But Cal Lu had other ideas.
Sophomore running back Tyler Ruiz of Fresno punched in a four-yard touchdown run with 2:26 left in the half. The run concluded a two-play, 55-yard drive. With the extra point, the Kingsmen jumped to a 7-0 lead.
Then, with only 4 seconds remaining in the second quarter, kicker Alex Espinoza split the uprights from 29 yards out to make the score 10-0 at halftime.
This small scoring barrage late in the first half “deflated us,” head coach Don Morel said.
In the second half, the Leopards were unable to strike back as the Kingsmen simply amplified their first-half ending performance.
Cal Lu tacked on 14 more points in the third quarter on an 18-yard pass from junior quarterback Casey Preston to sophomore wide receiver Nick Lane and on a 10-yard run from Preston. This devastating third quarter left ULV with a 24-point deficit entering the final quarter of the game.
“We just started to break down in the third quarter,” Morel said.
Early in the fourth, Cal Lu scored first on a 44-yard run from senior running back Devin Martin just under 1:30 into the quarter.
A shutout loomed over the Leopard bench until, with 2:43 remaining in the game, freshman running back Justin Wolfchief took a handoff and trudged 95 yards to finally get ULV on the board.
Wolfchief sang praises to his blocking on the play.
“The line up front did a really good job blocking. The blocking made it possible for me to see a hole. Once I saw the hole, I hit it, and it broke open,” Wolfchief said.
He continued to highlight a downfield block by sophomore running back Cameron Spence as another important tool on the scoring run.
“I was just trying to help him out as much as possible. When I saw him break on the run, I said to myself ‘I want to walk him into the end zone’,” Spence said.
When time ran out, ULV found itself recording its second SCIAC road loss in as many weeks.
“We played for 80 percent of the game; that is not enough,” Morel said.
Rollie Dykstra, a freshman out of Redlands, who was the quarterback at the helm for the Leopards in the loss, threw 11 for 23 and 100 yards. Dykstra replaced senior Gabe Lujan, the early season starter for ULV.
“Both guys are competing for that position,” Morel said.
Lujan, Morel said, posted some time at wide receiver and did a “great job. We need every guy to help in some way. Gabe is doing a great job at that.”
Although Dykstra recorded positive numbers in the passing category on the afternoon, rushing was a different story. He finished the game with a total of -14 rushing yards.
Morel attributed this total to Dykstra trying to do too much behind the line of scrimmage.
“Cal Lu brought pressure. Every guy on our team may be trying to do more than they should to help us win a football game,” Morel said.
Morel sees the beginning of the second half as part of the poison in the Leopard play of late.
“As coaches, we need to find a way to create excitement in the third quarter,” he said.
Morel and his cohorts will have two weeks to work on this and many other aspects of the Leopard squad as they entertain ULV’s second bye week of the season.
The first and foremost goal entering the bye week is “getting healthy,” Morel said.
ULV had a laundry list of starters that were out for last Saturday’s game. Senior running back Travis Lerma was out with an injured hip; junior kicker Wilber Martinez and freshman linebacker Toso Mata’u were nursing injured knees, and freshman defensive back Nate Mendoza was sidelined because of a foot injury.
Morel entrusts the injured reserve list to the able hands of head athletic trainer Jim May and strength and conditioning and wide receiver coach Matt Durant.
“They’re going to work this week to get us back to health,” Morel said.
The second goal for the upcoming bye week, Morel said, is “finding the right recipe for us to win a game.”
Overall, Morel said, “We need to prepare to play five games in the next 28 days. We need to get ready mentally and physically.”
These next five games include the three remaining SCIAC contests against University of Redlands, Whittier College and Occidental College, and three road games, where the Leopards are 0-3 on the season.
ULV’s next game is against the Redlands Bulldogs at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, at Ortmayer Stadium.
The Leopards welcome back all ULV alumni for this homecoming match up as they will attempt to remain undefeated at home this season.
This is the second of only three home games in which the Leopards will play this season.
The last home game will be against the Occidental Tigers on Nov. 16.
This is also ULV’s last game of the season.
