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Photo by
Juan Velez.
Wide Receiver Joshua
Robbins scored an acrobatic touchdown to
put Chaffey College away |
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More
Photos |
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Heading into their
National Division Central Conference opener, the
Cerritos College football team wanted to get off to
a good start against Chaffey College at Falcon
Stadium on Saturday night. Last season, it was a
16-9 overtime loss to the Panthers that eventually
kept them out of the playoffs. After punting away
their first drive, the Falcons got on the scoreboard
when sophomore quarterback
Chris
Morales (La Habra HS) found
sophomore wide receiver
Joshua Robbins (La
Mirada HS) from 45 yards out for an
acrobatic touchdown. The score seemed to start the
momentum that the defense also picked up on, which
resulted in a 31-14 victory. The win improves the
Falcons to 5-0, their best start since 2002, while
they are 1-0 in conference play. After a bye week,
Cerritos will travel to Citrus College for a 1:00
p.m. game.
Knowing that the
Panthers (2-3) would use the quarterbacking tandem
of Michael Leonard and AJ Springer, the latter who
is known to scramble and came into the game leading
the team in rushing, the Falcon defense felt in
order to be successful, they would need to create
pressure the entire night. The end result was
exactly what Cerritos was looking to do, as the team
registered seven quarterback sacks, eight tackles
for loss and six quarterback hurries. The team also
forced seven turnovers (four fumble recoveries and
three interceptions), while limiting Chaffey to 265
yards of offense.
After a 55-yard
kickoff return by sophomore Tavoy
Moore (Gahr HS) put
the team in great field position, the Falcons took a
14-7 lead when sophomore running back Tylik
Carter (Long Beach Jordan HS)
scored from a yard out. Chaffey did tie the game
with 2:50 left in the second quarter, by sophomore
Eric Russell (Gahr HS)
returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a
touchdown. On both kickoffs, the return men were
aided by devastating blocks from sophomore
Drew
Harris (Whittier HS), which
sprung both runners.
Cerritos started
to pull away in the second half and led 28-14 when
Morales threaded the needle in the Panther end zone
and Moore timed his jump perfectly for a 39-yard
touchdown with 7:51 remaining in the third quarter.
A series of turnovers slowed down both team's
momentum until sophomore DeQuan
Everett (Long Beach Wilson HS)
picked off Leonard at the Falcon 42-yard line. The
team looked to get into the end zone until the drive
stalled, which led to a 33-yard field goal by
freshman
Francisco Rodriguez (Bell HS).
There wasn't much
the Panthers could do, especially with sophomore
linebacker
Chester
Woolen (Gahr HS) posting three
sacks, along with a fumble recovery to go with his
six tackles. The Falcon defense wore down Chaffey
throughout the game and balanced that with their
offense to post the win. Sophomore linebacker
David Flores (St. Paul HS) led
the team with nine tackles, while also adding a
fumble recovery, quarterback hurry and interception,
while freshman linebacker
Jonathan
Holmes (Washington Prep HS)
finished with six tackles, two forced fumbles and a
fumble recovery.
Offensively,
Morales struggled at times and finished the night
with 233 yards on 14-for-33 passing with two
touchdowns and three interceptions. It marks the
second straight week he was picked off three times.
Robbins led the team with five receptions for 97
yards, while on the ground Carter ran for 56 yards
on 16 carries.
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