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When looking at the Cerritos College football team’s
record, at first glance it would appear the team wasn’t
doing so well. Usually when a team is 3-4 on the season,
it’s considered to be a team in a rebuilding stage. Look
closer at the scores, and the Falcons could easily be in
contention for a post-season bid. After their 22-16
overtime loss at Riverside College on Saturday night,
the team has now lost two overtime games this season and
the combined points in their four setbacks has been 20
points. In each of the games, Cerritos was in position
to either tie the game late or win before going into
overtime. They will give it another shot next Saturday
night, when the team hosts Saddleback College at 7:00
p.m. in their annual Homecoming Game.
The same could
be said for their contest against the Tigers. After
sophomore kicker Jesus Ochoa (Paramount HS)
booted a 25-yard field goal with 12:53 left in the
fourth quarter to give the Falcons a 16-13 lead, the
Cerritos defense shut down the Tigers and forced them to
punt the ball away on their next possession. The offense
then chewed up four minutes on the clock before punting
the ball away with 7:23 left. When sophomore cornerback
BG Walters
(Dwyer (FL) HS/Allan Hancock College) intercepted
a Coy Glass past at the Tiger 32-yard line and returned
it to the 26-yard line with 5:20 remaining, it appeared
as though Cerritos was going to secure the win.
After their
drive stalled at the 14-yard line, Ochoa was wide left
on his field goal attempt with 1:37 left. It also turned
out to be enough time for Riverside to drive the length
of the field and have Johan Crispin connect on a 26-yard
field goal on the last play of regulation to send the
game into overtime. The big play on the drive was a
39-yard pass to running back Jamaal Scott out of the
backfield on fourth-and-five at the Riverside 46-yard
line.
In overtime,
Cerritos was unable to move the ball and sophomore
quarterback
AJ Toscano
(El Rancho HS) was sacked on fourth down. It took
Scott just three plays to get into the touchdown and end
the game.
The Falcons had
several situations where the result could have gone in a
different direction that might have changed the outcome
of the game. On their opening possession, Cerritos went
on a 21-play drive that resulted in no points, as
Toscano threw incomplete on fourth and 23 at the Tiger
25-yard line. On the first Tiger possession, it appeared
as though sophomore strong safety
Juan Lopez
(Bell Gardens HS) intercepted a deflected pass
before it hit the ground, but the officials ruled it
incomplete. The Falcons also had a field goal and an
extra point blocked that could have helped avoid the
extra period. On the good side, freshman defensive back
Orlando
Porter (Long Beach Poly HS) scooped up a
fumble and returned it 79 yards for the team’s first
touchdown on the night.
On the night,
Toscano was 14-of-26 for 164 yards and a touchdown,
while sophomore running back
Lorenzo Goode
(Hermitage (VA) HS/Allan Hancock HS) rushed 34
times for 87 yards. Freshman tight end
Anthony
Recinos (Norwalk HS) was one of three
players to catch three passes, with his going for 55
yards. On defense, freshman linebacker
Kirt
Puletasi (Long Beach Jordan HS) led the
team with 10 tackles, four tackles for loss, two
quarterback sacks and he added two quarterback hurries.
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