It's been four seasons since the Cerritos College football team has made a Southern California Regional Playoff game. It's also been four seasons since the Falcons have faced crosstown rival Long Beach City College. After the release of the final RPI standings, Cerritos will be hosting the Vikings in the Southern California Bowl at 7:00 p.m. next Saturday. The winner of the game will advance to the Southern California Championship game on November 28 and face either #4-seeded Riverside City College or #1-seed Saddleback College. Cerritos opened the season with a 26-20 win over the Gauchos.

The game will also be broadcast live on www.socalcollegesports.com.

The Falcons (8-2), co-champions of National Division Northern League, finished #2 in the RPI standings, while LB City was the tri-champion of the Central League and are 9-1 on the year. Tickets for the game will be $12 for general admission and $8 for students, staff, children under 12 and senior citizens. Tickets will only be available the night of the game at the stadium box office.

"This should be a great game for the players, coaches and fans," said Cerritos head coach Frank Mazzotta, who played on the 1962 Vikings National Championship team as a tight end. "Both schools have tried to get each other on their non-conference schedule for the last several years, but it hasn't happened. They have done a great job turning their program around and (head coach) Brett Peabody is a very good coach and has done a nice job with them. We haven't seen them play this year, so we have some homework to do in getting ready for the game."

The two schools also have played for the Crosstown Cup, which will also be at stake on Saturday night. In their most recent meeting in 2011, the Falcons earned a 52-34 win and own a 30-22-1 lifetime mark against the Vikings. Cerritos has also won the last three meetings and 10 of the last 13.

Both teams come in with potent offenses and are led by very competent quarterbacks. For the Falcons, sophomore Jimmy Walker (Redlands HS) has set multiple single season and career records, including most passing yards in a season (2,863), passing yards in a career (5,186) and passing touchdowns in a career (54). His 29 scoring strikes this year are two short of the school record. For the Vikings, freshman Jack Lowary has thrown for 2,777 yards and 25 touchdowns this year, including a pair of 400-yard games.

Sophomore wide receiver De'Jai Whitaker (Santa Monica HS) has been the beneficiary of Walker's passes, and leads the state with a school-record 1,252 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns on the year. He's complimented by the duo of sophomore Steven White (Manchester, VA HS) and sophomore Dashawn Gordon (Los Alamitos HS/Northwest Oklahoma State University), who have gone for 35-644-5 and 28-480-6, respectively, on the year. LBCC's Mike Wilson is also a 1,000-yard receiver with 69 catches for 1,043 yards and 15 touchdowns, with Jacob Welch (41-468-3) and Jerin Scroggins (30-333-3) also threats.

On the ground, freshman Kishawn Holmes (Vista Murrieta HS) has emerged as a dual threat as the season has progressed. He has run for 890 yards and nine touchdowns, while averaging 5.7 yards per carry. He has also caught 14 passes for 120 yards out of the backfield. Sophomore Robert Gordon (Terrebonne, LA HS) and healthy freshman Jason Floyd (Lakewood HS) have been nice compliments, with Gordon running for 311 yards and Floyd accounting for 168 yards, with 38 coming in the final game of the season after missing the last five with an injury. 

Back in 2012, Darren Johnson was a grey shirt running back for the Falcons. He left to Long Beach City the following season and is now a 1,000-yard rusher for the Vikings this year. He's produced 1,042 yards on the year and averages 7.2 yards per carry and even had a 268-yard rushing day against Chaffey College. The duo of Deonte Dixon (237 yards) and Tyree Harris (209 yards) also see action in the backfield.

Both teams rely on pressure from their defensive line to cause havoc, as the Falcons have recorded 34 quarterback sacks and the Vikings 41 sacks. Sophomore defensive linemen Raymon Price (Long Beach Poly HS) and Danny Harry (John Adams, NY HS) lead the team in sacks, while Mat Boesen is the LBCC leader in sacks (10.5) and tackles for loss (20.5). Linebacker Keith Walker (Mayfair HS) leads Cerritos with 82 stops on the year, while Harry and freshman linebacker Alexander Bush (La Habra HS) have recorded 58 and 57 tackles, respectively. Sophomore safety Anthony Murray (Cherokee Trail, CO HS) leads the team with five interceptions for the Falcons, with the team picking off 14 passes on the year. Long Beach City is led in the secondary by former Cerritos red-shirt Royce Moore, who has 40 tackles, with linebacker Kiante Goudreau picking off seven of the team's 13 picks. J'Quan Hawkins is second on the team with 53 tackles.

List of all bowl games - http://www.cccaasports.org/sports/fball/2015-16/releases/20151115pn7t9c