Although many of the faces were new for the Cerritos College football team, several players performed as if they had been playing together for two seasons. Led by the offensive tandem of sophomore quarterback Cody Clements (La Habra HS/Washington State University) and freshman wide receiver Xavier Shepherd (Lakewood HS), who teamed up for three touchdowns, the Falcons opened the 2013 season with a convincing 50-19 win over host Los Angeles Harbor College on Saturday. The team will welcome Fullerton College in their home opener at Falcon Stadium at 7:00 p.m. next Saturday.

The two connected on a pair of first quarter touchdowns, as Cerritos opened up a sizable 21-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the game. Clements, who completed 19-of-24 passes for 243 yards and four touchdowns, found Shepherd on the opening drive of the game from 14 yards out and then repeated that performance on their second drive.

After the opening touchdown, the Cerritos defense forced a turnover, as sophomore Zach Hadlock (Huntington Beach HS) knocked the ball loose from Corey Butler, with freshman linebacker Brandon Moody (Sonora HS) recovering the ball at the Falcon 39-yard line. It appeared as though freshman Tonny Lindsey (Long Beach Wilson HS) had given Cerritos a two-touchdown lead with a 50-yard scoring run, but it was brought back due to a penalty. Two plays later, Shepherd pulled in a one-handed pass over his shoulder for a 25-yard touchdown.

The Falcon offense seemed to click when they weren't stalled by penalties. On the night, the team was whistled 20 times for a total of 209 yards. By contrast, the defense showed signs of dominating the line of scrimmage, but were victimized a few times across the middle, while the secondary was called for four pass interference penalties.

It was a 36-13 lead at intermission, thanks in part to a last-second touchdown off an LA Harbor turnover. A bad snap that was recivered by sophomore linebacker Anthony Carrion (St. John Bosco HS) with :27 seconds left in the second quarter was converted into a 23-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the half. Freshman quarterback Rene Medina (St. John Bosco HS) completed a pass to Lindsey on 4th-and-9, and after bearking three tackles, raced into the end zone for a touchdown.

The offensive line opened holes for bruising sophomore running back Elijhaa Penny (Norwalk HS/College of the Sequoias), who finished with 72 yards on 10 carries, with Lindsey rushing for 47 yards on six carries. Shepherd concluded the night with nine receptions for 130 yards and three touchdowns, with Lindsey adding 36 receiving yards. The offensive line was led by sophomores Dixxon Diaz (Norwalk HS), Zachary Taves (Long Beach Millikan HS), Robert Chism (Downey HS) and Michael Fonoti (Mayfair HS/Long Beach City College), as well as freshman Jeremiah Frost (Edison HS).

The Cerritos defense recovered three fumbles and picked off a pass, with Hadlock and Moody leading the defense with nine tackles, while Carrion had seven stops, two tackles for loss and one sack. They also pressured the Seahawk quarterbacks 11 times, with sophomore Kisione Pale (Mayfair HS) recording five in the win.