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The Cerritos College football team wasted no time in
showing their opponent that this year's squad has the
ability to strike on offense very quickly and without
warning. Just three plays into the season, the Falcons
saw sophomore running back
Lorenzo Goode
(Hermitage (WV) HS/Allan Hancock College) bust
through three tackles on his way to a 44-yard touchdown.
The quick strike was one of many for the Falcons on the
night, as they opened their season Saturday night with a
63-36 win over Compton College in a game that was played
at Cabrillo High School.
Next weekend, Cerritos will try to duplicate their offensive
output when they host Ventura College in their home
opener in front a group of special fans. Over the course
of the night, the team and school will be honoring the
members of the 1957 Falcon football team that defied all
odds by being selected to play in the prestigious Junior
Rose Bowl in their first season. Some 21 members of that
team and coaching staff will be on hand that night to be
honored and get a glimpse of the new field and track
that college had installed last year and may be witness
to the school's first win on the new surface. Last year,
the Falcons went winless at home in their first season
on the new turf.
By the time the first quarter was over, Cerritos was sitting
on a comfortable 22-0 lead, thanks in part to some nifty
running and the precision routes carried out by the
team's wide receivers. Sophomore quarterback
AJ Toscano
(El Rancho HS) was spot-on in his passing, as he
connected on 8-of-10 passes in the first quarter for 106
yards and two touchdowns. His connected with sophomore
Craig Bell
(Gardena HS) with a nine-yard strike on a slant
patter on the team's second possession and then hit
freshman
Sheldon Smith (Culver City HS) from 11
yards out on a timing pattern in the corner of the end
zone.
The Falcons scored on all three of their first quarter
possessions, while the defense was shutting down the
Tarters whenever they had the ball early on. Sophomore
linebacker
Kupono Kaawa (Santa Fe HS) came up with a
loose ball after Compton moved the ball to the Cerritos
19-yard line and then picked off a Kyle Parrish pass at
their own 48-yard line the next time they had the ball.
On the night, Kaawa finished with six tackles and a
quarterback hurry to go along with his two takeaways.
The score was 29-0 after the Falcons went on a 13-play,
67-yard drive the first time they had the ball in the
second quarter. Four different players carried the ball,
with freshman
Clifford Ross
(Paramount HS) breaking off a 20-yard run on the
first play, while freshman
Marcell
Hendrickson (Long Beach Jordan HS)
accounted for 36 yards on three totes. The drive finally
culminated when freshman fullback
Junior
Tivao (Paramount HS) bulled his way in
from a yard out with his brother, freshman defensive
tackle
Johnny Tivao (Paramount HS) using his
6-0, 330-poud body as his lead blocker.
Compton never gave up, as they used some big-strike plays of
their own to counter any Cerritos offensive attack. Two
touchdown passes through the air from Parrish got them
on the board before Falcon freshman quarterback
Jeff Fischer
(Lakewood HS) closed out the scoring in the first
half with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Smith. Mixed in
with the scoring was an electrifying 85-yard kickoff
return for a touchdown from sophomore
Davion
Mauldin (Cimarron Memorial (NV) HS/Minot (ND)
State), who busted through the middle and then
outran everyone on the field for the score. He also
broke off another one on the night and finished with
three returns for 155 yards.
In a remarkable display of big-play offense, the Falcons
scored their 63 points while recording only 48 plays and
finished with 502 yards of total offense. By contrast,
the Tartars ran 62 plays for 390 yards and turned the
ball over twice. Cerritos did not turn the ball over,
but was whistled for 17 penalties for 159 yards. Compton
was called for eight penalties for 90 yards. The 63
points was the most in a season opener in school history
and the most point scored since a 67-27 win over
Fullerton College back in 1996.
Defensively, the Falcons were able to shut down Compton and
allowed the majority of the yards and points after the
team had rolled out to a big lead. The defensive front
controlled the line of scrimmage, limiting the tartars
to 126 yards on the ground, while they picked up 264
yards in the air. Cerritos also showed the ability to
lay out some hard hits, with freshman safety
Thomas
Mahoney (Long Beach Poly HS) coming up
with the hit of the night on wide receiver Dustin
Blount, who scored on a touchdown pass, but paid the
price. |
