Trailing 24-2 late in the third quarter, the Cerritos College football team got to within one touchdown before suffering a 31-16 loss to host Riverside City College on Saturday. The Falcons (2-3) have a bye next week and will then start Northern Division play when they host Santa Monica College at 6:00 p.m. on October 15. The game will also serve as the school's annual Homecoming Game.

The comeback started with a 4th-and-14 play deep in Tigers (5-0) territory. Sophomore quarterback Nick Mitchell (Mount Si, WA HS/Oregon State University) connected with sophomore wide receiver Matt Rosales (La Serna HS) on a slanting pattern for a touchdown. Mitchell, who was knocked out of the game for a short while with an injury, took several hits on the day.

On the ensuing Riverside drive, the Cerritos defense came up with a three-and-out, which forced a punt. Taking over possession at their own 18-yard line, the first play of the fourth quarter was a pass interference call against the Tigers on a sideline pass to freshman wide receiver Stacy Chukwumezie (Downey HS). Seeing a mismatch on the outside, Mitchell looked to Chukwumezie on the next play, and the speedy receiver ran under the ball and then outran the secondary to get the Falcons to within 24-16 early in the fourth quarter.

It was a game of field possession the rest of the way and it favored Riverside. Once again, the Cerritos defense held off the Tigers, but their punt was downed at the eight-yard line when the ball was allowed to hit the ground and roll instead of calling for a fair catch. The Falcon offense wasn't able to generate anything and freshman Brody Renaud (Bellflower HS) got off a punt that went just 33 yards and allowed the Tigers to take over possession of the ball at the Cerritos 42-yard line.

Riverside slowly moved the ball closer into the red zone and were able to convert a fourth down situation, which eventually led to a touchdown with 8:54 left on the clock. Another stalled offensive drive led to another Renaud punt and the Tigers once again ran a chunk of time off the clock, thanks in part to another fourth down conversion.

Mitchell finished the night 10-for-21 for 206 yards, along with two touchdowns and two first quarter interceptions. Chukwumezie pulled in four passes for 138 yards, while sophomore running back Kishawn Holmes (Vista Murrieta HS) accounted for 58 yards on the ground.

The defense received another solid performance from sophomore linebacker Alex Bush (La Habra HS), who led the team with 11 tackles, along with  1 1/2 tackles for loss and one quarterback sack. Bush was named the division's Defensive Player of the Week last week. Sophomore linebacker Daniel Moore (Long Beach Wilson HS) added eight stops and 2 1/2 tackles for loss, with sophomore strong safety Elijah Walker (Cabrillo HS) also checking in with eight tackles.