Trailing 15-14 at halftime against College of the Canyons on Saturday night, the Cerritos College football team scored 30 unanswered points in the second half to post a 44-15 win. The win secures the National Division Northern Conference championship for the Falcons (8-2, 5-1) and their first appearance in the Southern California Playoffs since the 2011 season. The team is one of four that have qualified for the playoffs and will find out Sunday morning where they are seeded and who they will be facing in the post-season next Saturday.

One of the main reasons Cerritos was able to pull away from the Cougars (6-4, 3-3) was their defense, who picked off passes on consecutive possessions that led to touchdowns, while limiting them to just 97 yards of offense in the second half. By contrast, the Falcons amassed 382 yards in the second half and 659 yards on the night.

On their first drive of the third quarter, freshman running back Kishawn Holmes (Murrieta Valley HS) ran for 23 yards on the first two plays, which opened the passing game. Sophomore quarterback Jimmy Walker (Redlands HS), who had a stellar second half, completed the drive with a 35-yard scoring strike to sophomore Steven White (Manchester, VA HS). On the play, White caught the ball on the four-yard line near the sideline and shook a pair of defenders to get into the end zone.

Walker, who tossed a pair of first half touchdowns to sophomore De'Jai Whitaker (Santa Monica HS) connected on two more scoring strikes in the second half, including an 85-yarder early in the fourth quarter. The defense just held the Cougars once again, forcing a punt. Holmes, who finished with 165 yards on the ground, rushed for two yards before Whitaker pulled down a pass at the Cougars 40-yard line with two defenders draping on him. He used his strength to secure the ball and then his speed to pull away for the touchdown.

On the first play after the big scoring strike, freshman free safety Elijah Walker (Cabrillo HS) picked off Devon Dunn at the Falcon 22-yard line and returned it 29 yards. A big 21-yard reception to freshman tight end Elijah Rogers (East Jefferson, LA HS) set the table for freshman Jason Floyd's (Lakewood HS) 8-yard scamper and a 37-15 lead.

The defense came though once again, as sophomore defensive back Anthony Murray (Cherokee Trail, CO HS) picked off his team-leading fifth pass of the season on the next series. He brought it back 17 yards and three plays later, Walker closed out the scoring with his fourth TD pass to Whitaker.

On the night, Whitaker caught nine passes for 225 yards, which is the second most receiving yards in a game in school history. His four touchdown receptions ties a school record and he owns the school record with 14 TD receptions in a season. He also leads the state with 1,252 receiving yards and his 21.6 yards per catch ranks him tied for fifth in the state. As for Walker's numbers, his five scoring strikes are tied for the second most in a game in school history, with his 366 passing yards the fourth most in a season and ties his total from the Ventura game. He's fourth in the state with 29 TD passes and sixth with 2,863 passing yards.

Defensively, the duo of Keith Walker (Mayfair HS) and Alexander Bush (La Habra HS) each finished with seven tackles, while Elijah Walker and Murray each added six stops.

Photos by Daryl Peterson