TEAM OF DESTINY—Senior nose tackle LJ McClure, center, and the Grace Brethren Lancers have won a pair of CIF-Southern Section East Valley Division playoff games by a combined five points. WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers Grace Brethren High football head coach Terry Gourley was jacked up about tonight’s playoff game—and it had nothing to do with the Mountain Dew he was drinking.

Gourley, who was holding a can of the caffeinated soda at the beginning of Tuesday’s practice, leads the Lancers into the CIFSouthern Section East Valley Division semifinals tonight at 7 p.m. against Ontario Christian at Moorpark College.

And to think, Grace Brethren needed a coin flip and a 14-point comeback victory in the season finale at Santa Paula just to squeak into the playoffs.

Gourley calls his Lancers the Heartbeat Team.

“One week we’re alive,” he said. “One week we’re dead.”

THEY’RE ALL EARS—Grace Brethren head coach Terry Gourley talks with his troops at practiceWENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers Grace Brethren (7-5) is very much alive.

This batch of Lancers are such big underdogs, they make Cinderella look like Paris Hilton whining about how her soy caramel brûlée latte doesn’t have enough whipped cream.

“It’s been unbelievable,” said junior quarterback Max Leffler of Grace Brethren’s postseason run.

Just look who’s playing left tackle. It’s Deacon Dobbs, who is 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds.

The junior also starts at starting middle linebacker and contributes on special teams.

“We can’t slack off. We have to practice like it’s our last week,” said Dobbs before Tuesday’s workout.

“We have to play four quarters, and we can’t take any plays off. Everybody gets tired, but we still have to play. It’s the playoffs now.”

Dobbs leads the Lancers with 126 tackles and has a blocked field goal.

Then there’s wide receiver Jack Gilliland, probably the bestkept secret in Ventura County.

Listed at 5-foot-9, Gilliland leads GBHS with 65 catches, 1,218 yards, 12 total touchdowns and six two-point conversions.

In last weekend’s 28-26 quarterfinal victory over Sage Hill in Hesperia, Gilliland nabbed 11 passes for 187 yards and two scores.

“We’ve been building a lot of confidence in each other,” said Gilliland, who also has 76 tackles and two interceptions at safety.

The sophomore is looking forward to playing at home for the first time in a month.

“It’s just another week of football,” he said. “We want to keep it going.”

Mike Spafford, a senior defensive end and center, was still soaking in the magnitude of Grace Brethren’s run.

“It’s kind of a weird feeling,” he said on Tuesday. “It hasn’t really set in. I just don’t want this season to end.”

Junior tackle and defensive end Jesse Buel said the Lancers believe in each other.

“It’s the belief that we’re going to win. It’s awesome,” Buel said. “Everyone’s focused on doing their job and just their job.

“It feels like we’re living a dream. With these guys, something special is going on.”

Grace Brethren thought its chances for the playoffs ended after a 56-38 loss to Fillmore in Week 9 of the regular season.

The day before the game against Santa Paula, the Lancers won the coin flip in the event of a three-way tie for second place in the Frontier League.

That breathed new life into Grace Brethren as the Lancers beat the Cardinals, 36-34.

Grace Brethren opened the playoffs by traveling to Newport Beach and pulling out a 20-17 win against Sage Hill.

GBHS survived a late field goal miss by Oak Hills to win 28-26 at Hesperia during the quarterfinals.

Grace Brethren has about 220 students, while Oak Hills has an enrollment close to 1,700.

“Everything just keeps going our way,” Gourley said, “even things that are out of our control.”

The Lancers now battle Ontario Christian, another unheralded squad with a 6-6 record, for a chance to play in the section championship.

Grace Brethren defeated Ontario Christian 34-6 during the 2004 Division 12 championship.

GBHS actually wanted to play the Knights during the regular season this year but Ontario Christian declined, Gourley said.

The clash is now inevitable.

Ontario Christian prefers running the ball in a standard WingT offense. Andrew Lachelt leads the Knights with 772 rushing and 563 passing yards with 18 total TDs. Teammate Andres Gil has 623 rushing yards and 10 TDs.

Grace Brethren counters with Leffler, a superstar who has focused only on offense the second half of the season.

The junior quarterback, who averages almost 300 yards passing per game, has 3,275 yards in the air with 24 touchdowns. He also has 529 rushing yards and another 16 scores on the ground.

Chris Meyers has stepped up at running back while LJ McClure makes a difference at nose tackle for the Lancers.

Brandon Pullen is playing well at guard and defensive end. Linebackers Ryan Malcolm and Sam Porrazzo are also important cogs in a constantly improving defense.

Gourley said the Lancers will put some wrinkles into the offense.

He said the team has a chance to score more than 40 points if the players don’t turn the ball over or drop passes.

The coach knows few people thought the Lancers would still be playing football in December.

“If you believe in each other, you can make other people believe in you,” Gourley said. “If wait for someone to believe in you, it’s never going to happen.”

Grace Brethren is turning a school and a community into believers.