Huskies Edge Bulldogs in Home Opener Dogfight

by Cerwin D Haynes

(photos by Sophia Priebe)

It is a bit cliche but somewhat appropos that two teams called the Bulldogs and Huskies would be in a dogfight. In the previous two seasons where the two teams faced off, each game was decided by a touchdown or less.

Today was no different, except East LA College (2-0, #17) made the key plays late to come out on top over Allan Hancock College (1-1, #16) 25-20. Last week's SCFA All-Purpose Player of the Week DeGabriel Floyd added to his impressive resume with two touchdowns runs, a touchdown reception, and an interception to lead The Pack in their win.

Unlike last Saturday, the ELAC offense stumbled throughout the first half - mustering only a 22-yard Ethan Rodriguez FG as their only score in the first 30 minutes. The Huskies defense, however, put up a much better first-half fight than the previous week by only allowing 10 points. On one series in the second quarter, Hancock QB Jackson Clavel threw a rare deep ball down the visitor sideline that was adeptly picked off by Floyd at the ELAC 17 to keep the Bulldogs from potentially adding to their lead. The Huskies would ultimately go into the lockers trailing 10-3 at the half.

Hancock would get the ball on the opening drive of the third quarter, and would put together a 10-play drive boosted by a 25-yard pass play from Clavel to Kollins Pettawa that advanced the Bulldogs into Huskies' territory. Hancock would get into the red zone before The Pack's defense finally stiffened: on 3rd and 7 from the ELAC 18, Clavel completed a 3-yard pass to TE Alex Sutton, but LB Alonson Person made a good tackle as he tried to turn upfield to keep Hancock four yards shy of the first down. A 37-yard FG by Arath Acosta nudged the visitor's lead further to 13-3.

On the ensuing drive, East LA's offense finally woke up.

Early in the first half, ELAC introduced a platoon manning of their QB position, subbing sophomore Frank Alvarez in for freshman Trilian Harris to give a tough Hancock defense a different look. The ploy finally paid dividends in the third quarter where Alvarez and the Huskies put together a 6-play, 73-yard drive capped by a 10-yard TD pass from Alvarez to "DB-slash-RB-slash-WR-slash-whatever ELAC needs him to be" Floyd to bring the Green within three, 13-10.

On the following kickoff, Hancock returner John Allen returned the kick 15 yards before being popped hard by William Dorsey, who also managed to jar the ball loose. ELAC's Darrell Jones recovered the ball at the Bulldog 30. The Huskies though could only gain five yards, but a second Rodriguez FG (42-yds) tied the game at 13.

In the fourth, ELAC would take the lead on a 6-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 1-yard TD plunge by - who else - Floyd. But the snap on the extra point try was mishandled and Nate Hidalgo was tackled, so the Huskies only took at 6-point lead. Hancock would unfortunately make East LA pay for the XP miss by driving down the field on their next possession, scoring on a 5-yard TD rush by Allen. With the extra point good, the Bulldogs took back the lead 20-19, with 4:53 left.

Thankfully, The Pack had one more answer in them.

The previous Bulldog touchdown was fueled by their running game. The Huskies responded by returning the favor - by using their legs to advance into the redzone and also churning down the clock. An 8-play, 73-yard drive culminated in a three-yard TD rush by Floyd... again. RB Jake Honsetter (8 rushes - 54 yards), Alvarez and RB Tyler Smith (8 rushes - 35 yards) all found running room to grind down the field before Floyd's capper. The Huskies failed on their 2-point conversion, but they left Hancock with on 57 seconds left. The following kickoff saw Makai Puga return the ball from the front of the endzone to the Hancock 33, but the visitors still only found themselves with 53 seconds left.

"Hancock is the type of team that, they don't want to be in any spread situations," said ELAC head coach Bobby Godinez. That's because the Bulldogs - needing to advance 67 yards quickly - were forced to abandon their run-dominant style and pass the ball. And it seemed like the Huskies' defense waited all game to defend such a situation. An incomplete pass and a short pass completion from Clavel to Elias Martinez had Hancock facing 3rd-and-7 at their 36. Clavel dropped back to pass, and was gobbled up by DL Travon Thomas at the Hancock 30, East's lone sack when they arguably needed it the most.

On 4th-and-13, Clavel completed a short pass to RB JP Luketu, who tried to scamper up the far sideline towards the first-down marker. But he was forced out of bounds four yards shy at the 39 with 10 seconds left. Ballgame.

HUSKY BITS

• QB Trilian Harris threw 6-13 for 69 yards. QB Frank Alvarez threw 5-11 for 56 yards, with one TD and one interception while rushing for 49 yards, including a big 26-yard scamper during ELAC's game-winning drive.
• Both teams were about even in rushing yards (141 for Hancock, 143 for East LA), but ELAC was able to edge out their visitors in passing yards 125 to 70.
• Alonso Person had nine total tackles. Recently activated DB Brinkley Shoes (#16) had eight total tackles
• Early POY favorite DeGabriel Floyd again factored in all three phases of the game: Five rushes for 17 yards and two TDs, two catches for 23 yards and a TD, a 15-yard kickoff return, two tackles and an interception.

UP NEXT:

The slate of earlier-than-normal start times continue as The Pack travel down to Fullerton College next Saturday for a high-noon kickoff. The Hornets beat College of the Canyons on the road today, 26-14, to improve to 2-0.