It was a tale of two halves when the Cerritos College football team faced host Golden West College on Saturday. The teams were tied at 7-7 through the first two quarters, while a pair of third quarter Falcon turnovers led to Rustler touchdowns, who went on for a 34-7 victory. Cerritos will host East Los Angeles next Saturday at 6:00 p.m. in their final scheduled game of the season.

The second half started with Golden West taking the opening kickoff and driving downfield to break the tie on a 34-yard field goal. Two plays into their first drive of the third quarter, sophomore running back Michael Hayes (St. John Bosco HS) was stripped of the ball, with the Rustlers recovering it at the Cerritos 18-yard line. Three plays later, the Rustlers were in the end zone and led, 17-7.

Driving the ball to midfield on their next drive, sophomore quarterback Dylan Eldredge (Cypress HS) was picked off, with Golden West taking over possession. The Falcons were solid on defense, but the Rustlers converted on a fourth down and then pushed their way into the end zone five plays later.

Cerritos, who went for it on fourth down four times on the day, were turned away on their next possession, with Golden West taking advantage of the turnover on downs and drove down to score again.

Limited to just 218 total yards on offense, Eldredge was 19-of-34 for 165 yards, which included a five-yard scoring strike to sophomore wide receiver Isaiah Blair (Downey HS) in the first quarter. Sophomore Gavin Porch (Los Alamitos HS) finished with seven receptions for 77 yards, with Blair catching six passes for 39 yards.

Freshman kickoff returner Rocco Caldarella (Valley Christian HS) put the team in good field position with his four returns for 120 yards, while, on defense, sophomore linebacker EJ Smith (Warren HS) finished with 10 stops. The defensive line was led by sophomore Leroy Palu (Mayfair HS), who posted nine tackles, with freshman linebacker Adrian Castro (La Serna HS) adding seven tackles.

Photos by Daryl Peterson