Huskies Hold off Vikings to Win First Annual Presidents' Cup

by Cerwin D Haynes

(thumbnail and photo by Stephen Morales)

Leading 20-7 midway through the fourth quarter, East Los Angeles College had the opportunity to put away Long Beach City College early. But the Vikings scored late to cut the lead to six, and got the ball back by recovering an onside kick to potentially win the game. Fortunately for the home Green, the defense held on by turning away Long Beach on downs with 1:06 to go, and the offense took the victory formation to salt away the clock and sweat out a 20-14 win.

With the score tied at seven after halftime, Long Beach would begin the second half on offense but the Huskies forced a 3-and-out thanks largely to a holding call that wiped out a Jonathan Watson 16-yard run. Trejan Bridges would field a 36-yard punt, returning it seven yards to the Huskies' 44. East LA's offense would take to the field; a couple of completions from QB Terrance Gipson to Bridges advance ELAC to the LBCC 34. RB CJ Tannehill would then rip off two long runs up the middle of the field, the first a 15-yarder, and the second a 19-yard effort that found the end zone.

On the ensuing kickoff, Long Beach would start their possession at their 27, advance the ball to the ELAC 33. But the Huskies' defense once again tightend up when needed, forcing an incomplete pass by Qeanu Campbell on 4th down and 3. East got the ball back and put together an 11-play, 67-yard drive culmination in a Gipson 15 yard TD run. Despite missing the extra point, ELAC would go up 20-7 with the game in control.

The Vikings would ultimate threaten: with 5:01 left in the fourth quarter, Long Beach - now with QB Will Madonna under center - put together an 11-play, 58-yard touchdown drive, scoring on a five-yard pass from Madonna to Trennel Ridgely. The extra point was good, and Long Beach set up their special teams for an onside kick. The ball was kicked across the ground 13 yards to the right and into the hands of a Huskies' player, but the odd bounce of the ball escaped him, causing a mad scramble on the ground which saw the Vikings recover the ball at the ELAC 48.

A personal foul call and then an offsides flag on East helped get LBCC to the ELAC 22. But once again, the defense stiffened up when they absolutely had to, bottling up Jonathan Watson for a two yard rush on 2nd down, then forcing a pair of incompletions on third and fourth down to turn the ball over with 1:06 remaining.

East LA improves to 4-3 overall (1-1 National Northern League) while Long Beach drops to 4-3 (1-1 National Northern League).

HUSKY BITS:

• Tonight was the inaugural "Clash of the Presidents" matchup, a new rivalry series between Long Beach City College and East LA College spearheaded by the presidents of both colleges. ELAC President Dr. Alberto J. Román and LBCC President Dr. Mike Muñoz issued a challenge that the losing team's president wear the gear of the winning team and school for the following week (and post evidence of such on their social media outlets). Tonight's win by ELAC means Dr. Muñoz must sport the Husky Green around Long Beach for the whole week.
  • Additionally, a new trophy was introduced for what will be an annual matchup: The Presidents' Cup.

Now onto ELAC player performances:

• ELAC basically doubled up LBCC in total yardage, 407 to 202.
• QB Terrance Gipson was 20-33 for 189 yards while also rushing 22 times for 103 yards. He would lead a ground attack that saw East gain 218 yards in rushing.
• RB CJ Tannyhill rushed 10 times for 55 yards, including the couple of aforementioned long runs (1TD).
• WR Trejan Bridges led all pass catchers with 8 receptions for 66 yards and a TD.
• DL Quincy Ivory continues to make a name for himself as one of the biggest defensive impact players in the state. He totaled six tackles, 1.5 sacks, and 2.5 TFLs.

NEXT UP

ELAC heads up towards Magic Mountain next Saturday, but there won't be any roller coasters in their plans.

They have a date in Santa Clarita against the Cougars (3-4, 1-1) of College of the Canyons. Kickoff at 6pm.