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Photo by Juan Velez.
Cerritos Football upset Mt.
San Antonio College Saturday night
in three overtimes. |
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More Photos |
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Cerritos
College sophomore safety
Joshua Lomeli (La Mirada HS)
intercepted Nick Lamaison in the end zone to
prevent Mt. San Antonio College from scoring
on their possession in the third overtime of
their National Division Central Conference
game at Falcon Stadium on Saturday night.
Then, on Cerritos' possession and faced with
second-and-goal from the five-yard line,
sophomore quarterback
Jeffrey Fischer (Lakewood
HS) hit sophomore tight end
Anthony Recinos (Norwalk HS)
in the corner of the end zone for the
game-winning touchdown to give the Falcons a
44-38 victory. Entering the game, the
Mounties were ranked #1 in the nation, while
Cerritos was #25. With the win, Cerritos
(7-2 overall, 4-1 division) and Mt. San
Antonio (8-1, 4-1) are tied for first place
with El Camino College in the Central
Conference with one game remaining. The
Falcons will travel to El Camino next
Saturday for a 6:00 p.m. game.
A win over
the Warriors would give the Falcons at least
a share of the conference championship and
the top spot, while they will host a
first-round playoff game. The last time
Cerritos won at El Camino was in 1998. The eight teams
that make the playoffs consist of the first
and second place teams from the National
Division and the two American Division
conference champions and play for a shot at
the state championship. A loss against El
Camino could drop Cerritos into third place
and hope for a non-playoff bowl game.
Cerritos
was able to get to overtime after Mounties
kicker Jacob Harfman missed a 19-yard field
goal with 54 seconds left in regulation.
Then, in the second overtime, Falcon wide
receiver
Joshua Robbins (La Mirada
HS) pulled down a fantastic touchdown
pass on third-and-12 in the back corner of
the end zone with Dominique Gaisie hanging
all over him. Robbins had to reach back over
his head and came down with ball to
temporarily put the team on top. The Falcons
held the Mounties to a 20-yard Harfman field
goal in the first overtime after two stellar
defensive plays by freshman linebacker
Matthew Moody (Sonora HS)
kept Mt. SAC out of the end zone and then saw
Cerritos freshman kicker
Pedro Puga (La Habra HS)
connect on a 36-yarder to send the game to a
second overtime.
For the
ninth time in as many games, the Falcons
scored on their opening drive of the game
(eight touchdowns, one field goal), with
freshman
Michael Willie (Long Beach
Wilson HS) pulling in a seven-yard pass
from Fischer (15-for-29, 186 yards, 4 TD).
But a key play in the game came early in the
fourth quarter after Cerritos tied the game,
21-21 on a 1-yard run by sophomore fullback
Junior Tivao (Paramount HS).
On the third play after the score, freshman
defensive tackle
Simon Sauni (Lakewood HS)
stripped Burton Iosefa at the Mountie
30-yard line with sophomore defensive end
Ryan Davis (Artesia HS)
recovering the ball. Four plays later and
Tivao had his second 1-yard score and a
28-21 lead.
From the
outset of the game, the Falcons were able to
establish their running game and accumulated
229 yards on the ground on 47 carries.
Leading the way was sophomore
Duane Bowen (St. John Bosco
HS), who powered his way to 99 yards,
while freshman
Tylik Carter (Long Beach
Jordan HS) added 66 yards on 12 totes.
The Cerritos offensive line did a masterful
job of controlling the line of scrimmage,
led by three freshmen and three sophomores,
including Recinos. Sophomore center
Adam
Cox (Warren HS) and
sophomore guard
Joshua Tuuao (Long Beach
Poly HS), along with freshmen
Marco Saggese (Valley
Christian HS),
Jarrell Winston (Woodrow
Wilson (D.C.) HS) and
Ruben Mejia (St. John Bosco
HS) allowed the Falcons to move the
ball and the team responded by racking up
415 total yards.
Not to be
outdone, a sure-handed defense limited the
Mounties to a minimum of yards after a catch
and after they crossed the line of
scrimmage. Although Lamaison threw for 422
yards and four scores, only three plays went
for over 20 yards. Sophomore
Lorenzo Caldwell (Kaiser HS)
was picked on most of the night, but kept
his receiver in front of him and finished
with 16 tackles (12 solo) and two pass
breakups. Freshman linebacker
David Flores (St. Paul HS)
came on strong and added 10 stops, while
cornerback
LeQuan Lewis (Artesia
HS/College of the Sequoias) added eight
stops, with six being solo tackles. The team
finished with six tackles for loss, with
freshman linebacker
Jack Francis (La Mirada HS)
leading the way with 1 1/2, along with seven
tackles.
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