IRVINE — Crean Lutheran seemed to be in a favorable spot when it took an 11-point lead with just under two minutes remaining in the first half on Friday night against visiting Leuzinger.
The Olympians were just getting warmed up, however.
Leuzinger answered back by scoring the final 28 points in the 34-17 victory in the CIF-SS Division 2 first-round game, sending Crean Lutheran home with its first loss of the season.
Leuzinger (9-1) will host Chaparral in the second round.
“Division 2 is no joke,” Leuzinger coach Jason Miller said. “That’s a team that was undefeated. Now they’re defeated, and it’s all due to tremendous effort by our players and coaches.”
Crean Lutheran (10-1) took a 17-6 lead when Caleb Bey scored on an 18-yard touchdown run with 1:44 left in the first half, slicing through the Leuzinger defense rather easily.
Mason Miller, who caught seven passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns, returned the ensuing kickoff to the Crean Lutheran 28-yard line, and Journee Tonga caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Russell Sekona four plays later to cut it to 17-13 with 1:01 left in the half.
Sekona completed 21-of-30 passes for 297 yards and four touchdowns.
The Olympians received the second-half kickoff and needed just four plays to take the lead. Sekona hit Miller deep over the middle for a 38-yard gain, and they hooked up again on the next play for a 30-yard touchdown and a 20-17 lead.
“Simple mistakes,” Crean Lutheran wide receiver/defensive back Bryce Coleman said. “All their ball movement was on big plays, letting guys get behind you in the secondary. I made that mistake multiple times, just letting too many explosive plays.”
The Olympians forced a three-and-out on Crean Lutheran’s first drive of the second half and then followed with a 12-play drive that was capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by Tonga for a 27-17 lead with 4:14 remaining in the third quarter.
Luezinger scored on its fourth straight drive when Miller got behind the Crean Lutheran defense on a stop-and-go and scored on a 17-yard pass to make it 34-17 with 8:17 left in the game.
“Just keep sleeping on me,” Miller said. “Everybody was sleeping on me and I’m just going to keep showing them every week.”
Leuzinger set the tone on defense early in the game when Pakipole Moala laid a big hit on a Crean Lutheran receiver, resulting in a lost fumble that was recovered by Jediah Cabs.
The Olympians were unable to take advantage of that good field position because Sedona was intercepted by Javari Nash, but after a shanked punt netted just three yards, Leuzinger scored two plays later on a 25-yard touchdown catch by Miller for a 6-0 lead.
The Saints moved ahead 10-6 on a 90-yard touchdown catch by Ty Johnson with 4:21 left in the first quarter before expanding the lead to 17-6 later in the half.
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