Second half lead holds up in opening season win
After a sluggish first half where the Cerritos College football
team amassed just 116 total yards, they turned things around and
wore down visiting Allan Hancock College in the second half. The
Falcons took to the ground game and pounded out a 19-12 National
Division Northern League win over the Bulldogs on Saturday night.
Next week, the team will travel to Bakersfield College for a 4:00
p.m. conference game.
Although they led the entire game, Cerritos struggled to move the
ball and scored their first two touchdowns as a result of big
plays. On the second play from scrimmage, freshman
quarterback Jimmy
Walker (Redlands HS) connected with a
streaking Justin
Caines (La Habra HS), who went 61 yards
untouched for a touchdown with only :35 seconds expired off the
clock. The second touchdown was a one-yard plunge from sophomore
running back Joseph
Donnell (McNair HS/Sacramento City
College), but was set up by a 69-yard punt return from
freshman Anthony
Murray (Cherokee Trail, CO HS).
But the Bulldogs continuously moved the ball and stayed close to
the Falcons. It was a 13-12 game at halftime until Cerritos scored
with 9:27 left in the fourth quarter to make it 19-12. The offense
had just misfired on a failed fourth down attempt, but the defense
was able to forced a three-and-out on the next Hancock drive. Three
straight runs by sophomore running back DeVonte
Carter (Dominguez HS) was followed by
completion to sophomore tight end Ainslie
Johnson (Servite HS). Walker was forced
out of the pocket on the next play, but spotted Johnson who was all
alone downfield, and the play resulted in a 49-yard touchdown
pass.
Much of the team's second half success has to go to the offensive
line, who wore down a physical Bulldog defensive line.
Sophomores Giovanni
Chanes (Kealakehe, HI
HS), Siosaia
Kalavi (Kealakehe, HI HS/Globe Institute of
Technology (NY) College) and Isheiko
Mclaine (Norwalk HS) were joined by
freshmen Junior
Millan (St. Paul HS), Brendan
Bailey (Rancho Buena Vista HS)
and Daniel
Alanouf (Los Alamitos HS) continued to
pound out openings for the running backs, and accounted for 38 of
their 82 rushing yards on the night in the fourth quarter. It
allowed the Falcons to move the chains and keep the clock
moving.
As much as the offensive line got stronger as the game progressed,
so did the Cerritos defensive front seven. Struggling to
handle the option play of Bulldog quarterback Curry Parham,
they finally were able to get pressure in the pocket and forced
numerous bad passes while stuffing the middle. On the final Bulldog
drive of the game, sophomore defensive tackle Garron
Featherston (Los Angeles Adventist Academy
HS) had a quarterback hurry on first down, with sophomore
defensive end Alex
Jones (Maple Heights, OH HS/Eastern Michigan
University) sacking Parham on third down, forcing a
fourth-and-20 situation. On that play, Parham was forced to
get rid of the ball early due to the pressure from freshman
defensive end Raymon
Price (Long Beach Poly HS).
In addition to the defensive line pressure, sophomore
linebacker Aaron
Porter (La Habra HS/UCLA) recorded 14
tackles, with sophomore linebacker Erick
Zarate (Long Beach Jordan HS) and
sophomore free safety Davey
Monette (Dominguez HS) combining for 15
stops. As a team, Cerritos had seven tackles for loss, four sacks
and five hurries to slow down the Bulldogs.
Walker was limited to 8-of-16 passing for 172 yards but threw a
pair of touchdown passes. Johnson caught four passes for 88 yards,
while Caines had a pair of catches for 67 yards. The team's leading
receiver, Domonique
Young (Long Beach Jordan HS) was held
without a catch. Sophomore running back Travis
Newberry (Bellflower HS) led the team
with 58 yards on the ground, while Carter added 49 yards.