By Joe Snyder
Up until late in the third quarter, things looked impressive for Serra High’s football team in its season opener against Orange Lutheran last Friday night at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. The Cavaliers took a 20-3 lead midway in the third quarter on an 11-yardtouchdown run by junior running back Cincere Rhaney.
From there the Lancers, who won the CIF-Southern Section Di- vision II championship with a win over Mission Hills Alemany last season, pecked away at Serra’s lead, behind the passing combination of quarterback T.J. Lateef and wide receiver Antonio Berrera and rallied for a 27-26 victory.
Shortly after a field goal by by Dieter Kelly, Orange Lutheran cut Serra’s lead to 20-13 late in the third period on an 8-yard TD pass from Lateef to Berrera.
Kelly, then, kicked off the ball but it was fumbled by the Cavaliers’ Keyona Chatman. Berrera, then, tied the game at 20 on a 4-yard run early in the fourth period.
Junior quarterback Jason Mitchell came back and gave Serra a 26-20 lead on a 7-yard scoring run but the point after touchdown attempt by Kai Honda failed due to a bad snap.
On the Lancers’ ensuring drive, they marched 80 yards on 11 plays, that was also aided by a pass interference call on Serra. It appeared that the Cavaliers would stop Orange Lutheran after a 5-yard loss but then came a successful 6-yard touchdown pass from Lateef to Berrera. Kelly put the eventual winning extra point up to give the Lancers the one-point lead.
The Cavaliers made several key mistakes that prove pivotal. They missed two points after touchdowns, had a few critical penalties and the fumbled kickoff return.
Orange Lutheran received the ball on the opening kickoff. On its first play from scrimmage at its own 29-yard line, though, the passing attempt by Lateef was intercepted by the speedy Roderick Pleasant who returned the ball to the end zone, giving Serra a 7-0 lead.
Rhaney led the Cavaliers’ rush- ing with 165 yards on 15 carries that included a 27-yard TD run in then third quarter. He also opened the second half with a 47-yard sprint.
Mitchell completed five of eight passes for 29 yards and Jimmy Butler was 5-for-17 for 67 yards.
Serra hopes to cut on its mis- takes in its big non-league showdown against Long Beach Poly Friday at 7 p.m. at Long Beach Veterans Stadium.
The Cavaliers captured the 2021 CIF-Southern Section Divi- sion III, Southern California Division IA and California state Division IA crowns. The Jackrabbits were Southern Section Division IV champions before losing 21-17 in the regional Division I championship on Dec. 4 at Serra. The Cavaliers held on to top Bakersfield Liberty 21-16 for the CIF-State Division IA crown.
