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Despite a season record of 4-5, the Cerritos College
football team had 14 All-Mission Conference National
Division selections at the all-conference meeting
recently. Mt. San Antonio College, who won the division,
had 17 selections, while the Falcons were second with
their 14, while Pasadena City College was next with 13
selections.
Five of the
selections were 1st Team honors, while
sophomore kick returner/defensive back
Davion
Mauldin (Cimarron Memorial (NV) HS/Minot
State (ND) University) being a unanimous pick as a
kick returner and a 2nd Team selection in the
secondary. On the year, Mauldin returned 11 kickoffs for
379 yards (34.5 average) including an 86-yard touchdown,
while he also brought back six punts for 38 yards. As a
defensive back, he was second on the team with 56
tackles (29 solo), to go along with four pass breakups,
2½ tackles for loss, two interceptions and a forced
fumble.
Also being named
1st Team all-conference on offense were
sophomore running back
Lorenzo Goode
(Hermitage (VA) HS/Allan Hancock College),
sophomore offensive tackle
Mike Diaz
(Schurr HS), sophomore offensive guard
Armando
Casillas (Artesia HS) and freshman tight
end
Anthony Recinos (Norwalk HS). Freshman
nose guard
Johnny Tivao (Paramount HS) was the lone
1st Team selection on defense.
Up until the
final week of the season, Goode was leading the Mission
Conference in rushing yards, but missed a game due to
the cancellation of one game and was injured on the
first place from scrimmage in the final game of the
season. Despite those hurdles, he finished the year with
a conference-leading 923 rushing yards and four
touchdowns, along with a school-record 93-yard touchdown
run against Fullerton College. In that game, he finished
with 232 rushing yards, which was the seventh-best
single-game output in school history. Goode also caught
11 passes for 128 yards and a score. Diaz, who was a
unanimous selection last season, fought off an injury
the final few games of the year and still did a great
job of pass blocking, as well as pulling to open holes
for Goode. The same can be said for Casillas, whose role
was increased after the loss of sophomore tackle
Phillip Garcia
(Schurr HS) due to an injury. Casillas was very
versatile and played several positions on the offensive
line. Recinos caught only eight passes for 93 yards and
one touchdown, but was a very consistent blocker, which
helped the Falcon running game. As for Tivao, he found
himself double-teamed on almost every play during the
year, but still managed to record 38 tackles, along with
five tackles for loss, four quarterback hurries, one
quarterback sack, one forced fumble and one blocked
kick. He also played on offense as a blocking back for
his brother,
Junior
Tivao (Paramount HS).
There were four
players named 2nd Team all-conference on
offense and five on defense, including Mauldin.
Sophomore quarterback
AJ Toscano
(El Rancho HS) and his favorite receiver,
freshman
Sheldon Smith (Culver City HS) headed up
that list, along with sophomore offensive tackle
Anthony Haynes
(Bellflower HS) and freshman center
Adam Cox
(Warren HS). Toscano concluded the year with
1,446 passing yards and 15 TD’s while he completed 53%
of his passes, with Smith pulling in 35 receptions on
the season for 453 yards and seven touchdowns. Both
Haynes and Cox were mainstays on the offensive line and
helped the team roll up 3,062 yards in nine games.
Sophomore
linebacker
Kupono Kaawa (Santa Fe HS), a 2nd
Team selection as a freshman, led the Falcons with 70
tackles this season also helped anchor a very good
linebacking corp. In addition to his stops, Kaawa also
had five tackles for loss, three pass breakups, two
quarterback hurries and an interception. On the
defensive line, freshman
Kirt
Puletasi (Long Beach Jordan HS) was
honored after posting 55 tackles, 10 quarterback
hurries, 8½ tackles for loss, two sacks and an
interception. He was used both as a defensive end and
outside linebacker and had several exceptions games
during the season. Sophomore safety
Juan Lopez
(Bell Gardens HS), who was also a stellar special
teams player, finished the season with 18 tackles and an
interception. He had six of those stops and the pick in
the final game of the season. Sophomore punter
Michael Thomas
(St. Paul HS) only punted 29 times during the
season, but he averaged 38.4 yards and put five of the
punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, while seven
others were fair catches. |
