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Photo by
Juan Velez.
Coach Frank Mazzotta (L) with
Coach John Featherstone (R) after Saturday's
win over El Camino. |
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Playing
without two starters on offense and another two
that were questionable before the beginning of
the game, the Cerritos College football team
turned to their defense and special teams to put
points on the board. The Falcon
secondary returned three of their five
interceptions for touchdowns, while the team
added another on a punt return, en route to a
42-28 National Division Central Conference win
over El Camino College at Falcon Stadium on
Saturday night. With the win, Cerritos (9-1
overall) clinched second place in the conference
at 5-1 and earned their first playoff bid since
the state developed the format seven years ago.
A loss would have dropped the Falcons into a
non-playoff bowl game.
The team will
find out on Sunday if they are seeded #3 or #4
for the first round of the playoffs and will
host an opponent to be determined next Saturday.
The win over El Camino was the first since a
41-31 decision in 2001.
The Falcons
opened the scoring in the first quarter when
sophomore free safety
Eric
Russell (Gahr HS) stepped
in front of a Matt Simms pass and returned it 65
yards for a touchdown. It was the first of two
interceptions Russell returned for touchdowns in
the first half, as he went 91 yards for a
pick-six with 6:51 left in the second quarter.
On the first interception, he stepped in front
of Kenbrell Thompkins, while the second was off
a deflection off the shoulder pad of Warrior
wide receiver Erik Stewart.
For good
measure, Russell almost brought back a punt for
a touchdown, but was caught at the El Camino
five-yard line by punter Troy Gravett and was
credited for a 78-yard return.
"I thought I
had a pretty good angle on him, but when I saw I
didn't, then I tried to outrun him," said
Russell, who finished the night with two
interception returns for 156 yards, a punt
return for 78 yards, a kickoff return for 26
yards and six tackles in the secondary.
Cerritos
sprinted out to a 28-7 lead late in the second
quarter, as freshman
Dion
Curry (West Bakersfield HS)
returned a punt 72 yards for a touchdown, while
sophomore quarterback
Chris
Morales (La Habra HS)
connected with sophomore wide receiver
Marquis Williams (Carson HS)
for a 22-yard touchdown. Morales did not start
the game, but came on in relief of freshman
BJ Denker
(North Torrance HS) after the first two
series, while sophomore wide receiver
Michael Willie
(Long Beach Wilson HS) saw limited
playing time due to an injury. The team was also
playing the game without injure wide
receiver/returner Tavoy
Moore (Gahr HS) and
running back Tylik
Carter (Long Beach Jordan HS).
But the
defense more than made up for their absence, as
sophomore defensive end Jeramey
Cutler (Lakewood HS)
rambled his way to a 74-yard interception return
to give Cerritos a 35-14 lead with 12:10 left in
the third quarter. El Camino was driving into
Falcon territory and looked to get to within two
scores, until a screen pass landed in the hands
of the 280-pound Cutler, who went the distance
for his first interception return.
El Camino made
another attempt to get to within one score, but
the defense came up big again, as freshman
Keith
McGill (La Mirada HS)
picked off his second pass of the game, this one
at the Cerritos 26-yard line with 7:20
remaining. The defense recorded their final
turnover when freshman
David
Lopez (Garfield HS)
recovered a fumble that was forced by freshman
defensive end
Jonathan Holmes (Washington
Prep HS) in the final minute of the game.
Offensively,
the Falcons rushed for only 73 yards on 32
carries, while Morales and Denker combined to
throw for 147 yards. Sophomore wide receiver
Joshua Robbins
(La Mirada HS) led the team with three
receptions for 68 yards, which included a
stellar 57-yarder that Morales landed perfectly
into his outstretched hands.
But it was the
defense that recorded six quarterback sacks,
with three coming from sophomore
Deon Goggins (Palisades HS),
while sophomore linebacker
Chester Woolen (Gahr HS)
posted 2 1/2 tackles for loss to lead a team
that posted seven total on the night. Woolen and
sophomore linebacker Cee
Jay Harris (Long Beach Wilson
HS) led the team with seven tackles, while
a quartet of players added six each.
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