The Athletics Minute is a recap of the prior week's action in Lancer varsity sports.
Athlete Profiles
Throughout each season, one athlete from each sport is selected as a profile athlete. This week's profile features senior boys water polo player Beau Bradley.
Football
When the Lancers face adversity, they rise up. In a game reminiscent of last year's CIF Title game at Alemany, the Lancers used a stunning 4th-quarter comeback to beat Edison 38-37 and advance to the CIF quarterfinals.
Following an early Edison touchdown, the Lancers answered on consecutive drives. TJ Lateef first found the endzone on an option keeper to tie it. Then on the next possession, senior receiver Jackson Weng took a screen pass, beat one defender, and used his speed to score a 61-yard touchdown to give the Lancers a 14-7 advantage.
However, that was the last time the Lancers would score until the 4th quarter. Edison took a 17-14 lead into the break and extended the advantage to 24-14 with just over 7 minutes to play in the 3rd.
After two straight dropped touchdown passes early in the 4th quarter on 3rd and 4th down, the Lancers were forced to give the ball back to Edison, trailing by 10 with just under 10 minutes to play. But then the momentum changed. On the ensuing play following the turnover on downs, the Chargers quarterback Parker Awad was called for intentional grounding on a pass from the endzone resulting in a safety.
With the lead down to 8, TJ Lateef hit Tyler Hennessy on the first play of the next drive for 50 yards to the 2-yard line. Lateef snuck it in 3 plays later and then hit Garrett Schnabel for the 2 point conversion to tie the game at 24 in less than 90 seconds of game time.
Edison responded on the next drive with a 64-yard touchdown to retake the lead, but it only lasted three plays. Lateef hit Weng for his second score of the game, this time from 43 yards out, which tied the game at 31.
After a three-and-out, the Lancers regained possession and methodically marched the field, resulting in a Lateef touchdown pass to Hennessey with 1:38 left in the game. But the Chargers would not go down without a fight. Edison scored a touchdown with 6 seconds left in the game to cut the lead to 1. Instead of electing for the extra point, they went for two and the win. Awad's pass sailed just a bit high for his receiver to stay in bounds, and the Lancers held on for a 38-37 win.
OLu outscored the Chargers in the 4th quarter 24-14. All 24 points for OLu happened in an 8-minute span.
The win sends the Lancers back to Bellflower, where they will play St. John Bosco in the CIF quarterfinals on Friday, November 11, at 7 pm.
Girls Golf
On October 31, the Lancers played in the CIF Division 1 team competition at the Huntington Club. The top 8 teams would advance to the CIF Southern Section Finals on Thursday, November 3. OLu finished 5th overall out of a competition of 20 teams. They shot 389 (+29) as a group. The scores were Alexia Egdahl (74), Riley Shin (75), Jayne Sung (78), Mason Egdahl (79), Stella Fergin (83), and Audrey Sung (96).
In the CIF Section Finals on Thursday, the Lancers shot a team score of 417, which was good for 10th overall. The Lancers finished 17 shots back of the qualifying spots for the CIF State Regional. OLu ends their historic season with a 17-2 record, a 2nd-place league finish, a tournament victory, and a long playoff run.
Related
Read a full recap of the girls golf run.
Hockey
The OLu hockey team is currently 6-5 overall and in 2nd place in the Anaheim Ducks High School hockey league. They will take the ice against 1st place Fairmont Prep on Saturday at 8:30 pm at the Great Park.
Boys Water Polo
The Lancers traveled south to open up the 2022 CIF-SS Division 1 playoffs against Aliso Niguel on Wednesday evening. After one quarter, the Lancers led 5-3. However, it was the second that they opened up the lead. The Lancers used a 6-0 2nd to lead 11-3 at halftime. That would be all they needed as they went on to win 18-11 to advance to the quarterfinals. Their opponent in the Lancers quarterfinal game will be Palos Verdes. Game time is scheduled for 11 am on Saturday, November 5, at Santiago Canyon College.
Cross Country
The Lancers cross country team had the week off as they prepare for their run at the CIF Meet on Saturday, November 12. The girls team qualified for the meet. Individually, Joseph O'Donnell qualified on the boys side for his top-10 finish at Trinity League Finals.
Surf
The Lancers fell by 1 point in their only meet of the week against Corona del Mar. OLu is 2-4 and will compete on November 10 against Long Beach Wilson.
Social Media
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