Absorbing their fifth worst loss in school history, and worst since 2001, the Cerritos College football team was defeated, 45-9 by host College of the Canyons on Saturday night. The Falcons (3-5, 1-2) have one more home game remaining and will host Moorpark College at 7:00 p.m. next Saturday. The last time a Cerritos football team lost by that many points was a 51-12 loss to Pasadena City College in 2001.

Despite the lopsided loss, the Falcons were actually in position to take the lead several times in the first half. They allowed a Canyons touchdown on the first play of their possession, but sophomore defensive tackle PJ Naufahu (El Camino HS) blocked the extra point so the deficit was just 6-0. After punting the ball away, freshman free safety Devan Burrell (Centennial, NV HS) picked off his team-leading fourth pass and returned it 39 yards to the Canyons 26-yard line. 

But just like last weekend against Bakersfield College, the offense was unable to cash in the turnover for any points when freshman kicker Humberto Avila (Paramount HS) missed a 26-yard field goal. Down, 13-0 in the second quarter, freshman quarterback Isaiah Bravo (West Covina HS) hit a streaking Justin Garrett (Gahr HS/West Los Angeles College) down the sideline and he raced 75 yards for a touchdown. The Falcons attempted to go for two points, but it failed and the team was behind, 13-6.

Canyons capitalized on a Falcons turnover on the first play of a drive deep in their own territory and a late first half touchdown made it a 19-6 game at intermission. In the second half of the game, the Cougars were able to move the ball on the Cerritos defense and out-scored them, 26-3 for the final score.

Playing without freshman quarterback Quentin Davis (St. John Bosco HS), Bravo played all but the final drive of the game and completed 12-of-27 passes for 180 yards. Garrett pulled in eight of those passes for 134 yards, while the ground game was led by freshman Rhamondre Stevenson (Centennial, NV HS), who averaged 9.3 yards per carry and finished with 56 yards rushing.

In addition to his interception, Burrell also broke up and pass and finished with five tackles, while sophomore defensive back Isaiah Walton (Orange Lutheran HS) led the team with eight stops and a forced fumble. Both Naufahu and freshman defensive end Jordan Thomas (Norwalk HS) each recorded a quarterback sack and combined for seven tackles for the Falcons. Sophomore linebacker Tishawn Barnaby (Centennial, NV HS) pitched in with six tackles.