Orange Lutheran vs. Sierra Canyon: A meeting of the might
Taking your peers into battle every week requires leadership that inspires respect and admiration. Orange Lutheran High’s star offensive lineman Lucas Rhoa has figured out the perfect formula to achieve that.
The senior Texas commit is easily noticeable before, during and after a game. He leads the team in warmups, conducting their every move. If he jumps up, so does every other player. If he waves his arms this way and that, you bet his teammates follow.
It’s the perfect hype up to get Orange Lutheran in the mood to win.
Rhoa has earned that respect partly because he reminds opponents on a weekly basis that they need to hit the weight room. Sometimes Orange Lutheran will put Rhoa in motion after the snap, blocking multiple players to create a hole for the run game. On passing plays he’ll face off one on one against the outside defensive lineman, and he stops them in their tracks.
During the game, if he isn’t on the field, Rhoa can be seen giving encouragement to every player. In a recent win against Chandler (Ariz.) Basha there were two moments that exemplified this.
First, when Orange Lutheran’s punter pinned Basha inside its own three-yard line, Rhoa was the first to come off the sidelines and get excited for his teammate. On the flip side, when a teammate’s holding penalty negated a 20-yard run, the big man was sympathetic. Rhoa gave a head pat and some words of encouragement and ran back to the line for the next play.
“There’s no room to get caught up on anything,” Rhoa said. “If you’re getting caught up on a play then you’re three steps behind. You just gotta forget.”
To Rhoa, his star quality and mentality are non-negotiables of the job. His offensive line coach, Chris Ward, is less humble when talking about his best player.
“He’s been extremely dominant individually and he’s really grown as a leader,” Ward said. “We have some young guys in there, it’s their first time playing varsity football. He’s kept his composure and really let those guys grow.”
Rhoa has shown his skill level and leadership against a bevy of highly ranked opponents so far this season, but his toughest task may come against a player who has seen his best traits firsthand.
Orange Lutheran, which is 3-1 after shutting out Gardena Serra 35-0, is next playing Sierra Canyon, where former teammate and senior defensive lineman Marcus Fakatou now plies his trade.
Sierra Canyon has started the season 3-0, with a big 41-21 opening-weekend win against JSerra, which has won three straight since. Rhoa spoke on the potential matchup against Fakatou.
“I’ve seen him the most out of anybody,” Rhoa said. “We used to go against each other every day at practice. But it’s just another game for me.”
Fakatou is committed to Ohio State and, given its recent rivalry with Texas, this isn’t likely to be the last time he and Rhoa meet.
Fakatou is listed at 6 feet 7, 285 pounds while Rhoa is 6-5, 295. When they hit each other, the collision might create the force of an atomic bomb or at least a high speed car crash.
Richard Wesley and Trey Brown of Sierra Canyon combine for one of seven sacks against Orange Lutheran last season, when the Trailblazers won 41-9.
(Craig Weston)
The key to victory for either Orange Lutheran or Sierra Canyon may come down to this matchup. There could be more joy for Fakatou lining up against the other side of the offensive line, but Rhoa is as mobile as they come and will certainly try to find a way to put his former teammate on the ground.
Ward said that both players are likely to make great plays, and that his offensive line can’t be frustrated if Fakatou hits somebody for a loss. Like Rhoa said, they have to move on to the next play right when the whistle blows. “There’s never a thought of ‘oh, I got beat!’ It’s out of the mind,” he said. Head coach Ray Fenton said that his team goes as Rhoa does, and that his leadership will be the key to a great season beyond just the Sierra Canyon matchup.
“One of the best [leaders] I’ve been around in my many years of coaching,” he said. “He says it with his words but most importantly he says it with his own actions …It makes life easier as a coach.
The Times has Sierra Canyon ranked as the fourth best team in the Southern Section and Orange Lutheran ranked as No. 5. But Rhoa doesn’t care who lines up across from him, the goal is always the same: to dominate.
“At the end of the day [the opponents] are just humans,” Rhoa said. “However many stars they have, it’s just football.”
