Orange Lutheran’s Reagan Toki (2) scramble for yardage during a high school football game between Basha High from Arizona and Orange Lutheran High in a non-league football game at Orange Coast College on September 4, 2026.(Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
Orange Lutheran’s defense swarms Basha’s Noah Roberts (6) during a high school football game between Basha High from Arizona and Orange Lutheran High in a non-league football game at Orange Coast College on September 4, 2026.(Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
Orange Lutheran’s defense swarms Basha’s Jake Rogers (8) during a high school football game between Basha High from Arizona and Orange Lutheran High in a non-league football game at Orange Coast College on September 4, 2026.(Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
Orange Lutheran’s King Rich Johnson (5) returns an interception for a touchdown during a high school football game between Basha High from Arizona and Orange Lutheran High in a non-league football game at Orange Coast College on September 4, 2026.(Photo by Michael Goulding, Contributing Photographer)
COSTA MESA – The coach said it was composure.
The offensive lineman said it was integrity.
Those two elements were supported by plenty of good football, too, played by Orange Lutheran in a win over the No. 1 team from Arizona.
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The Lancers beat Basha of Chandler, 23-17, on Friday in a nonleague game at Orange Coast College.
Orange Lutheran junior safety King Rich Johnson returned an interception 84 yards for a touchdown. Sophomore quarterback Ezrah Brown threw a touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Raiden Velasquez. Sophomore running back Ryan Christianson rushed for 122 yards and a touchdown on 28 grueling carries.
The Lancers offensive line of seniors Lucas Rhoa and Troy Oliva, juniors Jonah Tabrizi and Sonatane Vumileva and sophomore Mario Luna busted open gaps for Christianson and offered a wall of protection for quarterbacks Brown and Reagan Toki.
Orange Lutheran, No. 4 in The Orange County Top 25, is 2-1. The Lancers started the season with a late-field-goal 23-22 loss to Miami Central, the No. 8 team in Florida according to HSratings.com’s rankings. Last week they beat San Diego County’s top-ranked team, Cathedral Catholic, 38-24.
Basha is No. 12 in MaxPreps.com’s national rankings. Orange Lutheran is No. 61 in those national rankings.
Lancers first-year coach Ray Fenton was very pleased with the Lancers defense, especially the backfield that swatted away numerous passes by Basha’s Princeton-committed quarterback Jake Rogers and struck paydirt with Johnson’s electric interception return.
“To hold a team like that, that’s so explosive to those (17) points, yeah,” Fenton said.
Fenton said the area of most growth from the season-opening loss to Miami Central through Friday’s win is in the team’s emotional approach.
“For the most part,” he said, “we played with better composure. If we kept our composure in game one like we did tonight, we might have come out on top.”
Tabrizi said the way the players have meshed as a team since the Miami Central game has been crucial to its improvement.
“It’s been our integrity, for sure,” Tabrizi said. “You see our brothers lifting each other up tonight, not getting mad about silly penalties. That was a great win.”
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Orange Lutheran lost to Basha, 30-24, last year in Chandler, Ariz. Basha would go on to finish 12-1.
“This time we showed them what Cali ball is all about,” Tabrizi said.
Basha took a 7-0 lead on its first possession. Bears senior quarterback Jake Rogers, who committed to Princeton, threw a crisp pass to Pitt-committed senior receiver Jaden Baldwin who made the catch and the Lancers 20-yard line and sprinted in from there for the touchdown.
Orange Lutheran tied it with 5:35 left in the first quarter on a 2-yard touchdown run by Ryan Christianson who had carries of 9 and 10 yards on that drive that covered 80 yards on 11 plays.
Basha went ahead, 10-7, with 7:50 to go in the second quarter on Mikey Barth’s 27-yard field goal.
Johnson’ interception return gave Orange Lutheran a 14-10 lead. He pulled in an overthrown pass at the Lancers 16-yard line, cut to the right sideline and made a couple of dodges near midfield before pulling away from the pack for the touchdown.
The Lancers had an excellent chance to score again, late in the second quarter. They had the ball on the Bears 6-yard line with five seconds remaining in the half. Basha’s Kyler Wilson made an interception in the end zone to stomp out that Orange Lutheran opportunity, leaving the Lancers with a 14-10 halftime lead.
Brown connected with Velasquez on an 11-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-10. The Lancers got two points on a safety when a Basha snap on a punting situation sailed over the punter’s head and out of the end zone for a 23-10 lead. Basha got a touchdown with 4:52 left in the game on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Rogers to Noah Roberts.
Roberts, who rushed for 111 yards in Basha’s win over Chandler last week, was limited to 36 rushing yards on 17 carries on Friday.
Orange Lutheran senior punter Toby Wickman placed two punts inside of the Basha 5-yard line to give the Bears difficult field position.
Orange Lutheran plays at Serra of Gardena on Friday. The Lancers then play at Sierra Canyon on Sept. 18, have a bye week and then player the Trinity League opener against Servite at Orange Coast College on Oct. 2.
Basha’s next game is against Pinnacle, also an Arizona team. Pinnacle beat Edison, 32-28, last month.
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