Knowing that a loss to College of the Canyons opened the door for the Cerritos College football team to earn a share of the Northern Conference championship, the team dropped a 28-19 decision to host Moorpark College on Saturday. It wouldn't have meant a playoff berth for the Falcons, but would have improved the team's ranking in Southern California. The team is likely to get a post-season bowl bid when the games are announced on Sunday, which means one more game next Saturday against an opponent and location to be named at that time.

In the loss to the Raiders, Cerritos (6-4, 4-2) opened the scoring in the game when they drove 71 yards downfield on nine plays with sophomore running back Elijhaa Penny (Norwalk HS/College of the Sequoias) capping the drive with an eight-yard touchdown run. On the drive, Penny carried the ball five times for 40 yards, while freshman tight end Ainslie Johnson (Servite HS) caught a pair of passes for 38 yards.

But Moorpark responded right away, going on a 10-play, 63-yard drive and took a 7-6 lead after converting the extra point. Cerritos wasn't able to move the ball on their next possession and the Raiders once again moved downfield and reached the end zone with 1:58 left in the first quarter. They extended their lead to 21-6 on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Nick Davis to Justin Coburn.

The start of the third quarter marked a change in the game's momentum when the Falcon defense held ground, forcing a punt. Freshman Jerry Smith (Mayfair HS) returned the ensuing punt 63 yards for a touchdown to get Cerritos to within 21-12 after a failed two-point attempt. It became a 21-19 lead early in the fourth quarter, as the Falcons started to move the ball on the ground and drove 82 yards on 16 plays, with Penny getting eight totes and punched the ball in from four yards out for the score.

That seemed to wake up the Moorpark offense, who had struggled in the second half. They took advantage of a 20-yard punt from sophomore Osborn Umeh (Mayfair HS) and moved 50 yards and scored an insurance touchdown with 5:21 left in the game.

Both teams accounted for 185 yards on the ground, with Penny finishing with 139 yards on 26 carries, but the Raiders had a huge advantage in the air by throwing for 230 yards to just 119 for Cerritos. On defense, sophomore defensive lineman David Moala (Serra HS) and sophomore linebacker Anthony Carrion (St. John Bosco HS) both paced the team with nine stops, while Smith also recorded five tackles from his defensive back position.