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Through their first three games, the
Cerritos College football team's defense has been good
enough to win games. They have come up with big plays
when necessary, but in the end, the team had dropped two
of it's first three games. Facing Riverside City
College, the #8-rated team in Southern California on
Saturday, the Falcon defense came up with six turnovers
(three interceptions, three fumbles), which spearheaded
a 24-14 Mission Conference crossover victory. The win
evened both teams records at 2-2, with both Cerritos
wins coming on the road. The team will look for their
first victory on their new field next Saturday when they
square off against cross-town rival Long Beach City
College at 7:00 p.m.
The Cerritos defense was very
opportunistic on the night and were led by freshman
cornerback
Hilton Dawson
(Dominguez HS),
who picked off two passes, including the final play of
the game, where he returned it 50 yards His other
interception came in the first quarter and stopped a
Tiger drive in the Falcon zone. Dawson also recorded
five tackles, forced a fumble and broke up a pass, with
sophomore safety
Arlando Bryant
(Long Beach
Jordan HS) coming up with other interception
to go along with five stops.
At the outset of the game, both teams
were victimized by turnovers, with four of the first
five possessions resulting in turnovers. Neither team
was able to capitalize on the miscues at first, until
the Tigers jumped on the board after Cerritos
quarterback Chad
Manis (Los
Alamitos HS) threw an interception.
Riverside moved the ball downfield with a balance of
running and passing and scored on a nine-yard pass from
Daniel Millus to Wesley Smith with 2:38 left in the
first quarter. However, the Falcons responded on their
next drive and got to within a 7-6 score after sophomore
running back
Rylon Thomas
(Valencia HS)
scored from three yards out. Two big plays sparked the
drive, with one being a 15-yard personal foul against
the Tigers and a 20-yard scamper by Thomas on a
third-and-two play. The extra point was missed by the
Falcons.
After Riverside took a 14-6 lead with
3:10 left in the half, Cerritos took the ensuing kickoff
and drove into the red zone with time running out. With
Thomas leading the way on the drive with 43 yards on the
ground, Manis found sophomore wide receiver
Cory Rhoane
(Gahr HS)
from five yards out with six seconds left before
halftime. A two-point conversion pass from Manis to
Thomas tied the game at 14-14 at halftime.
Just as they had done in their
previous two losses, Cerritos played a solid first half,
but could not maintain that momentum into the second
half. They changed things against the Tigers, as the
Falcon defense came up with big play after big play. One
huge play came on a first-and-10 at the Cerritos 18
yards line late in the third quarter. That's when Bryant
stepped in front of a Millus pass and it led to the
team's go-ahead touchdown with 14:21 left in the game.
On that drive, Manis spread out his offense and
completed passes to five different receivers, including
a 4-yard shovel pass to Thomas for a touchdown. On a
third-and-8, Manis connected with freshman wide receiver
Marco Perkins
(Cabrillo HS)
for eight yards, while sophomore tight end
Brennan
Houston (Gahr
HS) also caught a big 10-yard pass, which
put the ball at the Riverside 20-yard line.
With 1:13 left in the game, freshman
Jesus Ochoa
(Paramount HS)
booted a 21-yard field goal to ice the game. On that
drive, Cerritos was aided by a personal foul against the
Tigers, as well as a 13-yard reception by Houston.
Defensively, the front seven played a
solid game, with sophomore defensive tackle
Justin
Vasquez (Diamond
Bar HS) posting five tackles, two
quarterback sacks, one forced fumble and a tackle for
loss. On offense, Thomas rushed 23 times for 128 yards
and a touchdown, while also catching a touchdown pass
and also caught a two-point conversion. Manis was
16-for-30 on the night for 131 yards and two scores,
while he also rushed for 42 yards on eight carries.
Rhoane led the team with eight receptions for 75 yards
and one touchdown. |
