Corp delivers in the clutch

Every time we see Orange Lutheran (Calif.) quarterback Aaron Corp in action, he looks better than the previous time we watched him. We had a chance to check out the Lancers take on state power Mater Dei this past weekend and the signal caller clearly showed why he should be mentioned among the top five quarterbacks in the nation.

Corp, 6-4, 185 pounds made several big plays as the Lancers took down the Monarchs, rated No. 1 in Orange County 24-21 in what was a very exciting game. Corp finished 24-29 for 249 yards and also rushed for 59 yards but the stats don't come close to telling the story of how good he was in this game.

Corp's accuracy has always been one of his strengths (evidenced by being voted Most Accurate by the college counselors at the Elite 11 QB camp) and he was on the money all game long. Where he really impressed us was in his ability to avoid the Monarch pass rush as several of his runs came after being flushed from the pocket. Corp does a great job of feeling pressure and was great throwing on the run while buying time outside of the pocket.

He also showed what a clutch player he is leading the Lancers down the field when the game looked destined for overtime. With just 34 seconds to play and starting from his own 47 yard line, Corp scrambled for 24 yards on 1st down. The next play, Corp drilled receiver Austin Pettis over the middle for 17 yards to get the Lancers to the Monarch 12 yard line with just four seconds left on the clock. Orange Lu then nailed the field goal and the game was over.

"This was a huge win for us playing against the No. 1 team in the county," Corp said. "We had a great week of practice and I think we really deserved this win. It's just an awesome feeling right now, our kicker, James Rammelsberg, came up huge and this just feels great right now."

Physically, we've compared Corp to former USC Heisman winner Matt Leinart for a lot of reasons. Both are tall and lanky and have similar frames at the same stage. Like Leinart, Corp won't wow you with his arm strength, but has great poise in the pocket, is very accurate and is a winner. The one major difference, other than Corp is right handed, is he's much more athletic than Leinart and his ability to scramble away from pressure and make plays with his legs will give the Trojans an added dimension they haven't had at the position for some time.