PREP FOOTBALL ’99 : SMALL SCHOOLS : Whieldon Works to Regroup the Lancers : After coming up short in the playoffs and losing key players, Orange Lutheran quarterback says they’ll do it right this season.

Orange Lutheran quarterback Jason Whieldon still remembers the hollow feeling after the 42-41 loss to Carpinteria in the second round of last year’s Southern Section Division XI playoffs.

The Lancers were the top-seeded team and had beaten Santa Paula, 58-14, the week before. They had all-county running back Dee Meza, who rushed for 1,588 yards and 32 touchdowns. They had Jeff Renevier and Tim Fleming, both first-team All-Olympic League receivers. And they had Whieldon, who led the county in passing with 2,507 yards and 27 touchdowns.

“It was so shocking,” Whieldon, 18, said. “We won so many games by such a large margin. Everything felt right. We never saw it coming. We played a good game, but we made a couple of key mistakes.”

With two minutes left in the game, Orange Lutheran led, 41-35, but a fumble by the Lancers led to the Warriors’ winning touchdown.

“You feel so empty,” Whieldon said. “But it gives you that drive to work harder and better than anyone else. Now we know what it’s going to take to get back there and do it right this time.”

The Lancers, though, will be missing a few key elements from the team that finished 9-2 and won its third Olympic League title last season.

Meza is playing cornerback at Fresno State, Renevier is catching passes at Montana and Fleming is at Nevada.

“You can never replace someone like Dee,” said Whieldon, who will also play cornerback this season. “And it will be hard without Tim and Jeff. We might have different strategies this year, but we will still be an attacking offense.”

That offense, led by Whieldon, is what has other coaches in the league worried. In fact, Brethren Christian Coach Bruce Eien says he is always worried when Whieldon is at the helm.

“Going into our games with them, we never worried about Meza or anyone except Whieldon,” Eien said. “Our game plan was always to stop Whieldon. He always has the big-game ability.”

Although he has talent that Eien says would make him a “superstar” no matter who he played for, Whieldon might lack the physical stature it takes to make it as a Division I college quarterback. At 6 feet 1 and 180 pounds, he is about three inches shy of what most college scouts are looking for.

“He is extremely accurate and he has very good feet,” Orange Lutheran Coach Jim Kunau said. “He can also run the option well and that is a fairly unique combination. Based on the college coaches who have come through, they are definitely looking at him. But, as far as college goes, his chief obstacle is he is 6-1, not 6-4.”

Whieldon says he understands that to play in college he is going to have to go above and beyond the rest--work harder, study harder and be willing to dig deeper than his teammates.

“If I’m going to make it, it’s going to have to come from the heart,” he said.

That is one reason Whieldon’s idol is Buffalo Bills quarterback Doug Flutie, the 1985 Heisman Trophy winner, who had a brief stint in the NFL then spent years in the Canadian Football League before finally getting back to the NFL last season.

“I think I’m a lot like him,” Whieldon said. “He’s a shorter guy, but he’s quick and he gets around the corner. He plays with such passion, and that’s how I want to be.”

Whieldon isn’t concerned about his critics either. He’s heard it all--he doesn’t play against good competition, and the only reason he excelled last season was because of Meza’s running and his talented receivers.

“I’m not going to lie,” Whieldon said. “I know last year I had great receivers and a great running back. And if people think I’m overrated, that’s their opinion. But I hope they’d come watch us play first. We have some great players on this team.”