Crean Lutheran Coach Rick Curtis celebrates with players postgame. (Photos courtesy Crean Lutheran Shutterbugs, John Luciano, Wendy Rueter and Amy Temple).
Crean Lutheran senior running back Caleb Bey Jr. rushed for 165 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead the Saints to a hard fought 35-28 victory over La Habra in a Bravo League football game Friday night at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood.
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It was Crean Lutheran’s homecoming for the game, which started at 8:30 p.m.
Crean Lutheran (6-2, 3-0) notched its fourth consecutive victory to remain in first place in league. The Corona del Mar vs. Capistrano Valley game that was scheduled to be played at Capistrano Valley was postponed Friday game due to the Norte fire. The game will be played at Newport Harbor on Saturday.
“This win means a lot to us,” said Bey Jr., who had 28 carries and scored touchdowns on runs of 5, 10, 3 and 5 yards to the delight of the Crean Lutheran homecoming crowd. “It was a physical game offensively and defensively and we were able to remain undefeated in league.”
With the score tied at 14-14 at halftime, La Habra recovered a Crean Lutheran onside kickoff attempt to start the third quarter leading to a wild second half. Three plays later, quarterback Cal Poly SLO-commit DJ Mitchell tossed a 35-yard TD pass to Ethan Raphiel to give La Habra a 21-14 lead.
“We’ve been playing better each week and we’ll get back on our feet,” said Raphiel, who had a big night by catching six passes for 135 yards.
The Saints countered immediately by driving 80 yards in 12 plays for a touchdown. Bey Jr., also a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo commit, capped the drive with a 10-yard TD run. However, Barrett Blied blocked the extra point and La Habra held a slim 21-20 lead with 4:26 to play in the third quarter.
The Highlanders (5-3, 0-3) responded with a quick 5-play, 80 yard scoring drive, highlighted by a 67-yard pass play from Mitchell to Raphiel.
Mitchell finished off the drive with a 6-yard touchdown run and the Highlanders led 28-20 with 1:46 left in the quarter. Mitchell completed 11 passes for 215 yards and two TD passes in the game. He also rushed for 70 yards and scored two touchdowns, including a dramatic 28-yard touchdown run on the final play of the first half that tied the score 14-14 at intermission.
Crean Lutheran quarterback Caden Jones was also outstanding.
The Arizona-commit was a perfect 15-for-15 in passing for 174 yards. Jones completed five passes on the a scoring drive that was capped off by Bey Jr’s. 7-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
On the following 2-point conversion attempt, Bey Jr. took the snap and handed off to Jones on a reverse. Jones then completed a pass to Arizona-commit Braylen Ross who barreled into the end zone to tie the score at 28-28 with 10:10 remaining in the game.
“It was our homecoming game and we had a big turn and we stayed composed even when we were down,” said Jones, who also rushed for 72 yards, including four carries for over 10 yards or better. “We stayed level headed and that was the key.”
Following a Highlanders punt, Bey Jr. carried the ball six times for 62 yards and the drive ended with a Bey Jr. 5-yard touchdown run, upping Crean Lutheran’s lead to 35-28 with 3:24 left in the game.
La Habra tried to moved the ball for a tying score but Mitchell’s pass was picked off by Evan Mack with under a minute and the Saints took over and ran out the clock.
“We knew it was going to be a hard battle,” said Crean Lutheran Coach Rick Curtis. “Caden (Jones) and our offense ran effectively tonight and our Oline was super. It’s a big win for us in this world class venue.”
The Saints took the opening kickoff and marched 76 yards in 14 plays for a touchdown. The key play on the drive was a fourth down 18-yard scramble for a first down by Jones to the Highlanders 13. Three plays later, Bey Jr. capped the drive with a 5-yard TD run, giving Crean Lutheran a 7-0 lead.
Following a La Habra punt, Jones completed a 51-yard pass to Braylen Ross but Ross fumbled the ball after making an excellent catch at the Highlanders 5-yard line and it was recovered La Habra cornerback Santi Bautista Cuesta.
La Habra then drove 95 yards in 14 plays to tie the score at 7-7. Mitchell completed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Raphiel at the 5:07 mark of the second quarter.
The Saints countered with a 9-play, 70-yard scoring drive to retake the lead 14-7. Jones raced into the end zone from nine yards to put Crean Lutheran back into the lead with 47 seconds left in the half.
However, the Highlanders quickly moved down field in the final minute of the half. Mitchell used his blazing speed to tie the score at 14-14 with an exciting 28-yard touchdown run with no time remaining in the half, to even the score at the break.
Despite the loss, Highlanders Coach Frank Mazzotta saw some progress.
“We’ve been improving each week but we should have been improving at a quicker rate earlier in the season,” said Mazzotta. “After winning the first first games, we may have had a false sense, then we learned the hard way in the loss to Capo Valley. But I told the guys I’m proud of them; they played hard.”
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