Heading into their National Division Northern League game at Moorpark College on Saturday afternoon, the Cerritos College football team knew that a loss wouldn't end their playoff hopes. But after their 41-35 double overtime loss to the Raiders, the Falcons (7-2, 4-1) are now in a must-win situation in their final regular season game on November 14 when they host College of the Canyons.

The game got a late start when the storage doors at the bottom of the of the team's busses wouldn't open and required a mechanic from the bus company to come and fix the problem. It delayed the start of the game for 45 minutes.

Coupled with the heartbreaking loss, the Cougars (6-2, 3-1) were defeated, 54-48 by Ventura College (5-3, 3-1). With the Falcons getting a bye next week, they must now defeat Canyons if they are to win the conference title and earn one of the four post-season playoff positions. Cerritos has already defeated Ventura this year, with Canyons hosting Moorpark next weekend and the Pirates traveling to Allan Hancock College.

Cerritos took a quick 14-0 lead over Moorpark, thanks to three takeaways. But once they had their lead, the offense seemed to struggle, while the Raiders made necessary adjustments and slowly worked their way back in the game. It looked like Moorpark would win the game in regulation when quarterback Kado Brown rushed for a 14-yard touchdown with :18 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

The Falcons got a break to start their ensuing drive when the kickoff went out of bounds, putting the ball at the 35-yard line and not burning any time off the clock. Sophomore quarterback Jimmy Walker (Redlands HS), who broke his own single-season passing record in the first quarter, connected with sophomore Dashawn Gordon (Los Alamitos HS/Northwest Oklahoma State University) for 14 yards before he went out of bounds. Gordon then caught a short pass and broke a few tackles before getting out of bounds after gaining 38 yards, which put the ball at the Raiders 13-yard line.

Walker then went into the end zone looking for sophomore De'Jai Whitaker (Santa Monica HS), who became the school's first 1000-yard receiver in the third quarter. Moorpark was called for pass interference and the ball was spotted at the two-yard with time expired on the clock. With one untimed down play waiting to be executed to see if the game would go to overtime, both teams called timeout. On the final play, Walker handed the ball to sophomore defensive tackle David Fangupo (Kealakehe, HI HS), who busted into the end zone. Freshman Adrian Saldana (Walnut HS) booted the extra point to send the game to overtime.

Brown, who rushed for 208 yards and four touchdowns on the day, capped off the first Moorpark series with a one-yard touchdown. Cerritos taking over at the Raiders 25-yard line, found freshman tight end Elijah Rogers (East Jefferson, LA HS) with a 24-yard touchdown on third-and-nine. Starting the second overtime session, Rogers caught a short pass, but was stripped of the ball and Moorpark recovered. On the first play, Brown broke several tackles on the outside and scored the winning touchdown.

The Falcons can look to several missed scoring opportunities that hurt their chances of winning. On the 71-yard reception by Whitaker, he had the ball ripped away by Jalin Burrell at the Raiders four-yard line. It came one play after Moorpark tied the game at 21-21 in the third quarter. Also, on a fourth-and-one at the Raiders nine-yard line in the fourth quarter, freshman Kishawn Holmes (Vista Murrieta HS) was stopped for no gain and the team turned the ball over on downs. It ended a 10-yard, 71-yard drive that lasted over four minutes. The Raiders took that next drive and scored the go-ahead run, with Cerritos aiding that drive with a facemask call on second-and-28, which gave them a fresh set of downs.

Walker struggled with his touch all day and finished the game just 10-of-29 for 194 yards and two touchdowns. Whitaker, who leads the state in receiving, caught just the one pass on the day although he was targeted eight times on the day. Holmes, who had a stellar day with some extra-effort runs, finished with 139 yards on 22 carries and scored a pair of touchdowns.

Walker, who passed for 2,323 yards as a freshman, now has thrown for 2,497 yards and owns the school record for most passing yards in a season (2,497), career (4,820), career touchdown passes (49) and is seven scoring passes from tying the single-season record of 31 touchdowns. Whitaker, who is second in the state in receiving yards, holds the school record for most receiving yards in a season (1,027) and career (1.406).

The Falcon defense equaled the struggles of the offense, as they missed numerous tackles. Once Moorpark was able to get a running play past the line of scrimmage, they picked up yards in chunks, and finished with 375 yards on the ground and scored six rushing touchdowns. The trio of sophomore safety Deon Smalls (Fitzgerald, GA HS), along with freshman linebackers Elijah Walker (Cabrillo HS) and Alexander Bush (La Habra HS) all finished with double-digit tackles. Sophomore defensive tackle Raymon Price (Long Beach Poly HS) posted seven tackles with 3 1/2 tackles for loss and two forced fumbed, but was also called four three encroachment penalties. The defense finished with 11 tackles for loss and picked off three passes.