This Week's Sports Schedule

11.16.07 - CERRITOS HAS 14 ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS

    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 1^st 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 2^nd 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 1^st 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 1^st 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 2^nd 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 2^nd 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.

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