T.J. Lateef leads Orange Lutheran football team in rout of Rancho Cucamonga

RANCHO CUCAMONGA — Orange Lutheran plays a challenging non-league schedule to prepare for the even more-challenging Trinity League competition. The Trinity League has perennial powers such as St. John Bosco and Mater Dei.

Rancho Cucamonga also has a difficult preseason, and first-year coach Ofa Fifita hope is to gain experience for a defense which has only three seniors. Orange Lutheran scored on its first four offensive possessions and scored two more first-half touchdowns on interception returns. The Lancers took a 38-14 halftime lead en route to a 45-14 victory on Friday night.



The Lancers improved to 2-0, while Rancho Cucamonga fell to 0-2. Despite the wide margin of victory, Orange Lutheran coach Rod Sherman thinks Rancho Cucamonga has a strong team. “We play a great team every week,” said Sherman, who felt getting off to a 14-0 lead in the first 6 minutes set a tone for his team.

Orange Lutheran senior quarterback T.J. Lateef tossed five touchdown passes to four different receivers.

Two of the scoring passes went to senior Tyler Hennessy. Kamryn Shingleton rushed for 108 yards on 12 carries and a touchdown, and the junior running back also caught three passes for 73 yards and a touchdown. “I like running with the ball more than catching it.

” Shingleton said. “With running the ball, I get it right away and have more control.” Rancho Cucamonga quarterback Jacob Chambers threw an outstanding 55-yard touchdown pass to Cameron Sermons.

Chambers bounced back after throwing an interception returned for a touchdown by middle linebacker Jake Underwood. Chambers also ran for a 9-yard touchdown on fourth down with 13.1 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

“I tell our players that the beauty is in the journey,” Fifita said. “We were stopped by penalties and our own errors. Sure I’d rather be 2-0, but this game will get us ready for the big picture.

” The game was marred by some unnecessary penalties by each team. “It was a typical second game with the errors,” Sherman said. Despite the miscues, Sherman was very upbeat about the Lancers’ prospects.

“I am so blessed to coach a quarterback like Lateef and we have a great senior class. “We may have lost a bit of mental focus as the game went on.” After two road games, Orange Lutheran will have its home opener next week against St.

Francis of Maryland. Sherman said he thinks Orange Lutheran has the toughest high school schedule in the country. Related Articles.