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Although the Cerritos College football team was playing
without their best cornerback in their Mission
Conference National Division game against Pasadena City
College (6-3 overall, 1-3 conference) on Saturday, the
Falcon defense still came up with interceptions on three
consecutive series, as well as a fourth down stop at the
one-yard line. By the time the game was over, the
Falcons snapped a four-game losing streak, as they
defeated the Lancers, 33-21. At this time, it doesn’t
appear as though Cerritos will be making up their
cancelled game from October 27 against Saddleback
College. As a result, the Falcons will finish the season
with a 4-5 overall record and a 1-3 mark in divisional
play. It marks the first time since the 1985 season that
Cerritos did not play a 10-game season.
Knowing they
would be playing without sophomore cornerback
BG Walters
(Dwyer, FL HS/Allan Hancock College), the
Cerritos secondary still made big plays, as sophomore
cornerback
Davion
Mauldin (Cimarron Memorial, NV HS/Minot (ND)
State University) picked off two David Pittman
passes, while the team had four. His first came early in
the fourth quarter as the Lancers were driving with the
Falcons leading, 26-21. He stepped in front of a Pittman
pass at the Cerritos 9-yard line and returned it to the
Falcon 28-yard line. The team then went on a 7-play,
72-yard drive that culminated in a two-yard plunge for a
touchdown by freshman
Junior
Tivao (Paramount HS).
On the next
series, Pasadena City drove deep into Falcon territory
again, but Tivao was there to pick off the pass at the
Cerritos six-yard line. Although they didn’t score,
Cerritos didn’t waste much time getting the ball back
after punting. Looking to move the ball downfield
quickly, the Lancers were victimized again by the Falcon
secondary, as Mauldin intercepted Pittman at the
Cerritos 19-yard line, which secured the win for the
Falcons.
The game didn’t
start well, as the team lost not only 12 yards on their
first series alone, they lost star running back
Lorenzo Goode
(Hermitage, VA HS/Allan Hancock HS), who was
injured on the first play of the game and he missed the
rest of the contest. Coming into the game, Goode was
leading the Mission Conference in rushing and was
looking to break the 1,000-yard barrier with only 79
rushing yards. Stepping into his place was freshman
Duane Bowen
(St. John Bosco HS), who started the season as a
defensive back. Bowen, who had only five carries all
season, rushed the ball 33 times for 159 yards and a
touchdown, while Tivao came on in short yardage
situations and reached the end zone twice.
Another key
defensive play in the game came late in the second
quarter with Cerritos leading, 14-7 after sophomore
quarterback
AJ Toscano
(El Rancho HS) hit freshman
Sheldon Smith
(Culver City HS) on a fade pattern from 16 yards
out for a score. The Lancers proceeded to move the ball
downfield and were faced with fourth-and-goal at the
Falcons one-yard line. They opted to go for it and
Pittman was stuffed at the line of scrimmage by the
entire Cerritos defense, with sophomores
Kupono Kaawa
(Santa Fe HS) and
Hector
Gonzalez (Mayfair HS) getting the first
hits.
That stop
seemed to energize the offense, as Cerritos went on a
13-play, 99-yard drive and ended when Toscano found
sophomore tight end
Patrick Crow
(Frazier Mountain HS) alone in the back of the
end zone for a one-yard touchdown with 11.1 seconds left
in the first half. Cerritos was helped along by three
Lancer penalties that gave the Falcons first downs,
while Toscano hit sophomore wide receiver
Ryan Pettys
(Los Alamitos HS) with a 25-yard pass to get deep
in scoring position.
In addition to
the interceptions that helped the team along, the
Falcons received tremendous games from freshmen
defensive backs
Joshua Lomeli
(La Mirada HS) and
Robert Beale
(Westfield, TX HS). Woods finished with 11
tackles, while Beale contributed four tackles, two
fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. Freshman
linebacker
Doncel Bolt (Long Beach Poly HS) led the
team with 12 tackles, while Mauldin finished with 10
stop and Kaawa chipped in with eight.
Offensively,
Toscano completed 18-of-34 passes for 222 yards and two
touchdowns, with Smith leading the team with seven
receptions for 87 yards and a score. Pettys added four
receptions for 53 yards, as the team compiled 369 yards
of total offense. |
