ORLAND — It was a decidedly unfamiliar position in which the Orland High School football team found itself on its home field Saturday evening. The Trojans were behind, and looking beatable.
However, second-seeded Orland used a remarkable second-half turnaround to subdue Lassen, 41-21, and claim its second consecutive Northern Section Div. III championship. It propelled the Trojans — now 11-1 — into the California Interscholastic Federation playoffs again, giving the team a chance to repeat as state champions.
The capper was Isaac Velasquez’s 95-yard touchdown run with 4:44 remaining in the game. The score settled the matter, putting the Trojans in command at 34-21 after a Sebastian Gonzalez extra-point kick.
Two Lassen defenders chased Velasquez in vain, slowing down while he was still about 20 yards from the end zone, surely realizing they couldn’t catch him. Perhaps it was also in deference to Velasquez and his crowd-energizing charge.
“It felt amazing — unreal,” Velasquez said following the game and the section championship trophy presentation. “Especially during that comeback, I didn’t expect it.”
Lassen, the section playoffs’ No. 4 seed, wasn’t cooperating for a good portion of the game. An observer could have forgiven Orland for feeling confident against the Grizzlies; they had raised some eyebrows in reaching this point, losing five of their first six games in 2023 before catching fire to finish 4-1 in Northern Athletic League play.
To cap the astounding change in fortune, Lassen stopped No. 1 seed (and NAL champion) University Prep 27-14 last week’s playoff semifinals to earn a berth in Saturday’s title game.
The Grizzlies appeared ready to carry that momentum against Orland, building a 21-12 halftime lead and continuously harassing their hosts with stingy defense and some speedy rushing. It didn’t hurt Lassen’s cause when Orland committed four turnovers in the first half — perhaps the most costly of which was a 55-yard interception return for a touchdown by Deshon Moore.
Costly, because on that play, Orland senior starting quarterback Diego Rico absorbed a smashing hit as he was throwing the ball; he didn’t return to the game.
Lassen built a 7-0 lead early in the game after recovering an Orland fumble on the contest’s first play from scrimmage. Trojans running back Christian Padilla lost the ball following a 10-yard gain; Lassen cashed in six plays later when Dathen Moore ran for a 9-yard score.
Orland responded in just three plays when Rico handed off to Padilla, who immediately handed off to Manny Rodriguez, who then scampered 66 yards for a touchdown. Gonzalez’s extra-point try failed and the Trojans were behind 7-6.
A 23-yard Rico-to-Rodriguez pass made it 12-7 in the second quarter’s opening minute; a failed conversion run kept that narrow margin in place. Lassen, meanwhile, kept the pressure up on defense and halted Orland’s production for the half, mostly. Only Jaime Albarran, a senior, had much to celebrate during the opening half when his 6-yard run midway through the second period helped him exceed 3,000 rushing yards for his school career — the all-time leader.
The Grizzlies scored again at the 4:44 mark of the second, using just four plays — with rushes of 18, 20 and 9 yards by Moore and a 20-yard run by Dowan Stephens — to take a 13-12 advantage.
That set the stage for Moore’s big return for a touchdown, followed by a Nash Osborn conversion pass to Joey Harrison to make it 21-12.
Orland, which had obliterated Gridley 42-7 in the previous week’s semifinal, showed vulnerability. The team’s starting quarterback had been knocked out of the game and the upstart visitors seemed to be having their way.
If there had been a time for some sort of adjustment, halftime was it. However, Trojans head coach Nick Velasquez didn’t make one.
“To be quite honest, there was no adjustment,” Velasquez said. “We told ourselves we needed to stop the turnovers and to make tackles on defense.
“There was a little bit of doubt, but I told them they were champions and they had been there and done that. They were being overly confident, and I said, ‘You think you’re going to beat everyone. Well, Lassen is here because they deserve to be here.’
“The script got flipped in the second half,” he said.
And boy, did it ever. Lassen never scored again and it was the team that appeared to be doubting its abilities on defense in the second half. Orland was pleased to be able to take advantage.
Albarran used a 21-yard run — when coupled with a Gonzalez kick — to shave Lassen’s lead to 21-19 about midway through the third stanza. Then, Orland used an onside kick to baffle the Grizzlies, causing Austin Hollandsworth to fumble the ball; the Trojans’ Secundino Martinez grabbed it.
Albarran had runs of 8 and 14 yards, the second of which he stiff-armed Stephens and knocked off the Lassen defender’s helmet. Rodriguez had a first-down run, Luke Schager notched a 15-yard gain, Velasquez pounded one for 8 yards and Schager scored on a 1-yard plunge. Gonzalez’s kick made it 27-21 and the momentum had permanently shifted.
Orland now awaits its bracket assignment when the CIF playoff committee meets.