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Photo by
Juan Velez.
Cerritos defeats Citrus, 21-16 to
earn head coach Frank Mazzotta his 200th
career win. |
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It probably wasn't
the way he envisioned it, but Cerritos College head
football coach
Frank Mazzotta
welcomed the cold water bath he received after his
Falcons defeated Citrus College, 21-16 in a National
Division Central Conference win on Saturday
afternoon. Even more than improving the team's
record to 6-0 on the year and 2-0 in the division,
it also marked his 200th career win at Cerritos. The
6-0 start is also the best by a Cerritos team since
they opened the 1993 year with a 6-0-1 mark. The
Falcons will now return home to host Riverside
College in their annual homecoming Game at 7:00 p.m.
next Saturday.
Leading 21-9 early
in the second half, the Falcons withheld a fourth
quarter touchdown by the Owls (1-6, 0-3) as well as
a late drive that saw them get as close as the
Cerritos 13-yard line. But a trio of defensive stops
held back Citrus and secured the win. On second down
at the 13-yard line, freshman
Jonathan
Holmes (Washington Prep HS) broke
up an intended pass by Citrus quarterback Byron
Ingram, while freshman
Walton Taumoepeau
(Buena Park HS) applied pressure. On the
next two plays, sophomore cornerback DeQuan
Everett (Long Beach Wilson HS)
broke up a pair of passes in the end zone, with the
second coming on fourth down, which turned
possession back over the Cerritos.
With 2:40 left in
the first quarter, sophomore running back Tylik
Carter (Long Beach Jordan HS)
handed the ball well enough to pick up a first down,
while an Owls penalty provided Cerritos with another
first down and the Falcons ran out the clock.
Citrus opened the
scoring in the first quarter on an Eric DeLira
23-yard field goal. But that lead didn't last long,
as sophomore Tavoy Moore (Gahr
HS) returned the ensuing kickoff 79 yards for a
touchdown. On the return, Moore received a
devastating block from sophomore
Drew Harris
(Whittier HS), which cleared a path toward
the end zone.
Both teams
struggled to maintain possession of the ball, as
each committed three turnovers in the first half.
However, the Owls did take a 9-7 lead in the second
quarter before the Falcons came back and regained
the lead for good late in the first half. On the
drive, sophomore running back Demetrek
Chambers (Long Beach Millikan HS)
rushed the ball three times and got to the one-yard
line, which set up a touchdown pass from sophomore
quarterback
Chris Morales (La
Habra HS) to sophomore tight end
Eric
Roberson (Long Beach Poly HS) with
:14 seconds left.
Cerritos increased
their lead to 21-9 when Morales and sophomore wide
receiver
Joshua Robbins (La
Mirada HS) connected for a 17-yard touchdown on
a slant play. The Falcons put themselves in good
field position after sophomore
Eric Russell
(Gahr HS) returned a kickoff to the Owls
28-yard line. A penalty drove them back to the
43-yard line, but Cerritos was still able to ride
that momentum into the end zone.
On the day, Carter
led the team with 85 yards on 19 carries, while
Chambers added 43 yards on six totes. As for
Morales, he completed 16-of-33 passes for 196 yards,
while Robbins and freshman tight end
Lucas
Mealy (St. John Bosco HS) each
caught four passes. On defense, Harris led the team
with nine stops, while Russell added eight and the linebacking
trio of Cee Jay Harris (Long
Beach Wilson HS),
David Flores
(St. Paul HS) and
Jack Francis
(La Mirada HS) all added seven stops.
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