No. 8 nationally-ranked Long Beach rallies late to beat No. 2 Mt. SAC 41-38
The game lived up to the hype.
In a battle of nationally-ranked unbeaten football squads, No. 8
Long Beach City College pulled off a 41-38 come-from-behind win
over No. 2 Mt. San Antonio College on Saturday night in front of a
big crowd at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Long Beach is 5-0 for the first time since 1998 and now leads the
SCFA Central League standings with a 2-0 mark. The victory also
snapped the Vikings' three-game losing streak against the
Mounties.
The Vikings led 26-14 at halftime after holding the Mounties
scoreless in the second quarter. Mt. SAC would rally in the third
to retake the lead before Long Beach and backup quarterback Brock
Dale (Lakewood HS) would put together a pair of scoring
drives late in the fourth to pull out the victory.
Mt. SAC scored 24 unanswered points to start the second half.
Sitiveni Tamaivena picked off starting QB Kenny Potter's (San Pedro
HS) pass and ran it back 49 yards for a touchdown to get the
Mounties going. Quarterback Justin Alo capped a seven-play,
seven-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run and Alberto
Villareal kicked a 34-yard field goal to give Mt. SAC a 31-26 lead
after three quarters.
Alo added a 20-yard touchdown run at the 12:59 mark in the fourth
to give the Mounties a commanding 38-26 advantage.
After a quick three-play drive, Long Beach was forced to punt and
gave the ball back to the Mounties with 12:08 to play. But the LBCC
defense finally came alive and held Mt. SAC to just three plays and
forced a punt as well.
Down by 12 points at the 10:24 mark, the Vikings put together
their first scoring drive since the second quarter. Long Beach
converted three third-downs on its way to the touchdown. Facing
third down and 15 yards to go, Dale scrambled for 16 yards to the
LBCC 48-yard line to keep the drive alive. Moments later, Dale
snuck in from one yard out to cap the 13-yard drive and cut the
Mounties' lead to 38-33 with 6:13 to play.
On the ensuing drive, the Long Beach defense once again held
steady and after six plays, forced Mt. SAC to punt the ball
away.
Dale and the Vikings had the ball back on their own 40-yard line
with 2:57 left in the game, setting up the heroic final touchdown
drive.
Dale opened the drive completing his first three passes, including
a 13-yard strike to sophomoreDe'Quan
Hampton (Dominguez HS) that put the ball on the Mt. SAC
30-yard line, followed by a personal foul by the Mounties that
advanced the ball to the 15-yard line. Dale then dumped the ball
off to freshman Anterio
Bateman (Serra HS) on a short pass that he was able to run
in for the go-ahead touchdown with just 1:39 to go.
Now trailing by three points, Mt. SAC drove down the field and set
up for a desperation 48-yard field goal attempt by Villareal. But
the kicked was blocked by freshman Kiante
Goudeau (Edison HS) and recovered by the Vikings at their
own 14-yard line to seal the victory and complete the upset.
Long Beach dominated the first half and racked up over 400 yards
by the break. Bateman's five-yard TD run in the first tied the game
at 7, while Potter's 78-yard touchdown pass to
sophomore Josiah
Blandin (Poly HS) once again tied the score at 14.
Freshman Alfredo
Solis (Paramount HS) hit a pair of 41-yard field goals and
Potter ran in from five-yards out to give the Vikings their 26-14
halftime lead.
For the game, Long Beach totaled 592 total offensive yards on one
of the state's top defenses. Potter and Dale combined for a
season-high 389 passing yards. Potter completed 21 of 40 passes for
292 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Dale connected
on nine of 15 passes for 97 yards with a touchdown and
interception.
In just his second game of the season, Blandin caught seven passes
for 152 yards with a TD while Hampton hauled in eight receptions
for 86 yards.
Bateman proved to be an all-around threat once again, scoring a
pair of touchdowns. He ran 15 times for 85 yards, caught six passes
for 57 yards and totaled 36 returns yards.
On defense, freshmen Christian
Woo (Mayfair HS) and Jason
Fao (Poly HS) led the Vikings with eight tackles. Woo also
broke up a pair of passes.
Long Beach will look to continue its unbeaten run when it travels
to Allan Hancock College for a 4 pm non-league game next Saturday
(Oct. 11) at Righetti High School in Santa Maria.