Lancers Come Up Short to Santa Fe Christian for their First Loss of the 2005 season

by Jeff Katz

As the Lancers stepped onto the Santa Fe Christian turf on Saturday, October 15th for their sixth game of the season, they knew that it was going to be a long, challenging, physical game, and if they played the way they knew they were capable of, they would come out ahead.   Unfortunately, this was not the case on this Saturday afternoon.   It was Santa Fe Christian's homecoming, and they, along with Parker brought in a larger crowd for this highly anticipated game.

            The game began with a kick-off to senior Larry Ayers for a 25-yard return.   The opening of the game gave everyone hope for the Lancers when they had a good drive only to be taken back by a holding penalty eventually forcing sophomore Matt Zubyk to punt to the awaiting Santa Fe Christian offense.

The Eagles then drove the ball 80 yards down the field to again kick-off to Francis Parker.   Receiving yet another penalty, the Lancers were forced to punt the ball yet again.   Santa Fe Christian however was not able to hold onto the ball for very long before throwing an interception to senior Preston Cavignac giving the Lancers hope yet again.   Although Parker was not able to get the ball into the endzone, Ian Yoder was able to nail the ball through the uprights for a 37-yard field goal, bringing the score to a close 7-3, with Santa Fe Christian leading.

            The Lancer defense again wasn't able to put a stop to the Eagles, so the opponent ended up putting up 6 points after missing an extra point.   Parker was given yet another chance to score on the menacing Santa Fe defense, but going for it on fourth down and 2 yards to go, on Santa Fe's 28 yard line failed when Parker only gained 1 yard, giving the ball to Santa Fe yet again, resulting in yet another touchdown bringing the score up to 20-3 at the end of the first half.

            The beginning of the second half proved to be a disaster for the Lancers when Santa Fe returned the kick-off 95 yards for a touchdown.   Although the Francis Parker offense was not able to move the ball during the next series due to 2 holding penalties, the Lancer defense made an amazing stop on Santa Fe when they went for it on fourth down and 1 yard to go with a silent sneak for a gain of zero yards.

            Parker was then able to drive the ball all the way down to the 11-yard line only to come up short yet again of the goal line.   The Eagles were then only able to move the ball 4 yards against the brutal Lancer defense in the following series forcing them to punt to the Lancers.

            In the most exciting moments of the game, the Lancers, upon receiving the punt, were then able to drive the ball all the way down to the 17-yard line, before fumbling the ball on the 4-yard line.   Nearly immediately after the Parker offense stepped off of the field after that fumble, junior Gino Gordon caught an interception causing the Lancers to finally score a touchdown bringing the score up to 27-9.

            Neither Francis Parker nor Santa Fe Christian were able to put up any more points on the board for the rest of the game, leaving it with a final score of 27-9, Santa Fe Christian.

            Make sure to check out your Lancers on Saturday, October 22 nd for their homecoming against Army-Navy, who have proven themselves to be a very formidable force this year, not to be taken lightly.