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MISSION VIEJO — In a grouping as challenging as the Trinity League, not all the intrigue involves the two national powerhouses who have dominated in recent years.
The race for third place and for playoff berths also provide drama, especially if there’s a transfer quarterback in the mix.
Santa Margarita and Orange Lutheran offered all those elements, and a few more, Friday at Saddleback College.
They dueled to a tie at halftime and a back-and-forth second half before the short-handed Lancers emerged with a much-needed 28-21 victory.
Orange Lutheran (4-3, 1-1), ranked fourth in Orange County, snapped a three-game losing streak and improved its chances of finishing at least .500 overall, a key ingredient for an at-large playoff spot.
“We needed it,” Orange Lutheran quarterback TJ Lateef said. “I don’t like losing and going on a three-game losing is kind of bad.”
“There was a lot of adversity on us. (We) had a lot of main pieces on the offense gone but (we) still had to step up.”
Santa Margarita (4-3, 0-2), ranked fifth in the county, dropped its second consecutive game in league.
The game pitted Santa Margarita quarterback John Gazzaniga against his former school whom he played for earlier this season.
The high-profile, in-season transfer was part of the pregame chatter, and the expected intensity spilled into game. In the end, however, the Lancers hugged the junior in the postgame handshake.
“They’re still my brothers,” Gazzaniga said of Orange Lutheran. “We went through a lot together. I’d do anything for those guys outside these 48 minutes. … I still love them. They played a great game. Wish we could have beat them.”
Orange Lutheran sacked Gazzaniga on the Eagles’ second possession but drew a personal foul on the play.
Gazzaniga capitalized by lofting a 20-yard touchdown pass to Sean Embree to cap a 64-yard scoring drive. It was Gazzaniga’s eighth touchdown in four games with Santa Margarita.
Orange Lutheran responded on the ensuing possession with an 87-yard scoring drive that Lateef punctuated with a 1-yard TD run early in the second quarter. On the play, the Eagles were flagged for a hit on Lateef.
The intensity continued later in the second period after Orange Lutheran intercepted a pass near the Lancers 20 with about five minutes left. After the tackle along the Orange Lutheran sideline, tempers briefly flared.
The Lancers, however, weren’t able to turn their second forced turnover into points as the score was locked 7-7 at halftime.
Orange Lutheran took its first lead early in the third quarter as running back Steve Chavez broke a 35-yard TD run for a 14-7 cushion. The junior finished with 109 yards on 22 carries.
The Lancers extended their advantage to 20-7 later in the third as Lateef fired a 45-yard TD strike to freshman wide receiver Chris Flores Jr.
Orange Lutheran capped a 28-0 scoring run by capitalizing on a pair of miscues on a Santa Margarita punt late in the third. Brayden Henson scored on a 1-yard TD run and Lateef caught the 2-point conversion from Flores to make it 28-7.
The Lancers scored the eventual winning score after Santa Margarita was flagged for illegal participation on a punt from near mid-field.
The Eagles had two players wearing jersey No. 1 on the field for the punt — Gazzaniga as the punter and long snapper Gage Burnett. The latter had taped on a No. 9 to his jersey for snaps but the number fell off, Eagles coach Anthony Rouzier said.
After a 15-yard penalty and replay of the punt, the snap sailed high and Orange Lutheran tackled Gazzaniga at the Santa Margarita 20, setting up the score by Henson.
“I should have changed the punter and not the snapper, so that’s on me,” Rouzier said. “I’m proud of these guys. They played hard. They didn’t quit.”
Gazzaniga led two late scoring drives to cut into the Lancers’ lead.
Offensive tackle Jacob Maiava capped the first with a 2-yard TD run with 9 seconds left in the third. Gazzaniga scored a 14-yard run with 2:55 left in the fourth as the Eagles trimmed Orange Lutheran’s lead to 28-21.
Gazzaniga scored after an interception by Logan Hirou on a fourth-and-3 from the Eagles 30.
But the Lancers ran out the final 2:55 to seal the victory. The key play was a 37-yard pass on third-down from Lateef to Logan Gutierrez to move the ball to the Eagles 21.
Lateef finished 23 of 31 passes for 288 yards. Gazzaniga completed 14 of 31 passes for 223 yards and rushed for 91 yards.
Orange Lutheran’s defense mostly contained wide receiver Trent Mosley, who had four catches for 71 yards. Cornerback Ben Alefaio helped lead the unit with four pass breakups in the second half.
The Lancers theme was to “lean” into the adversity of injuries and its losing streak.
“We got to go,” Lancers coach Rod Sherman said before the game of his team’s urgency.
Next week, Santa Margarita plays at JSerra on Oct. 13 while Orange Lutheran takes on Servite at Cerritos College.
