Cerritos College
sophomore linebacker
Jack
Francis (La Mirada HS) stopped
Ventura College quarterback Antavius Sims on a
two-point conversion with nine seconds left in the
fourth quarter to preserve a 36-35 win at the
Ventura Sports Complex on Saturday night. Cerritos
will now host Chaffey College (2-2) at 7:00 p.m. next
Saturday in their National Division Central
Conference Opener. The Panthers dropped a 28-27
decision to Grossmont College on Saturday. The 4-0 start by the Falcons is their best
since they started out 5-0 in the 2002 season.
After punting the
ball away with 1:09 remaining in the fourth quarter,
Sims guided the Pirates (3-1) down the field and was
aided by a facemask penalty against the Falcons
(4-0) to put the ball at the Cerritos 13-yard line.
Two plays later, Sims connected with Nick Karam for
an eight-yard touchdown pass. But Francis cut down
the elusive Sims, who had Cerritos tacklers chasing
him all night long.
A trio of first
half interceptions by sophomore quarterback
Chris
Morales (La Habra HS) allowed
Ventura to spend most of the first half in Cerritos
territory. But several defensive stops forced the
Pirates to kick field goals, and the Falcons trailed
19-14 at halftime. One of his interceptions was
returned for a 27-yard touchdown by Travaun Nixon,
who intercepted all three passes, to
give Ventura a 10-7 lead.
The Falcons
finally tied he game at 22 with 11:29 left in the
third quarter, as Morales found freshman tight end
Lucas Mealy (St. John Bosco)
in the back of the end zone. The series began with a
58-yard kickoff return by sophomore Eric
Russell (Gahr HS). Cerritos
took the lead and never relinquished it after
sophomore running back Demetrek
Chambers (Long Beach Millikan HS)
scored from seven yards out. The Falcons started in
good field position after Ventura punter Joe Reynoso
smartly threw an incomplete pass after the ball was
snapped over his head and rolled to the two-yard
line. Had he just fallen on the ball, Cerritos would
have taken over possession at that spot.
After the Pirates
tied the game at 29 with 12:57 left in the fourth
quarter, Morales led the team on a five-play,
60-yard drive in 2:21 that finished on a 20-yard
touchdown pass to Mealy, who went up and over the
Ventura defender for the score. In addition to
dealing with the Ventura defender, Mealy also
battled the fog, which rolled in during the first
half and made visibility bad for most of the game.
The game was mired
by penalties, as the two schools combined for 25
penalties for 336 yards. Additionally, numerous
penalties were offsetting. Despite being moved back
on offense, the Falcons rolled up 431 yards of
offense, with Morales completing 13-of-23 passes for
225 yards and four touchdowns. Mealy (three catches,
62 yards) had two touchdown receptions, while
sophomore
Marquis
Williams (Carson HS) caught a
15-yarder in the first quarter. Sophomores
Michael
Willie (Long Beach Wilson HS)
and
Joshua
Robbins (La Mirada HS) also
had three catches.
Sophomore
linebacker Cee
Jay Harris (Long Beach Wilson HS)
led the team with 11 tackles and also intercepted a
pass, while freshman
Bryon
Walker (Compton HS) posted
seven stops, as did sophomore
Drew
Harris (Whittier HS).
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