For the second year in a row, the Cerritos College football team has been unable to get past Los Angeles Harbor College. On Saturday night in their season opener, the Falcons dropped a 35-20 decision to fall to 0-1 for the second year in a row. They will look to avoid their second straight 0-2 start to the season when they travel to Fullerton HS for a 1:00 p.m. start next Saturday.

With their offense struggling to finish off long drives, the Falcons looked to big plays to help them try and keep up with the explosive play of Seahawk players Ryan Hyman and De'Shawn Beck, who combined for 223 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Beck, who caught a 36-yard touchdown pass from Max Baiz (23-for-32, 320 yards) in the first quarter, put the game out of reach when he returned an onside kick 45 yards for a touchdown with 1:45 left in the game.

Cerritos got to within 28-20 with 1:52 remaining after sophomore quarterback Morgan Fennell (Long Beach Poly HS) connected with sophomore wide receiver Robert Abeyta (Servite HS) in the back corner of the end zone from 30 yards out. It was the second touchdown pass to Abetya on the night, who pulled down a 44-yarder along the sideline in the first quarter.

Fennell, who converted only 14-of-30 passes on the night, amassed 226 in the air, with Abetya pulling in four for 92 yards. The Falcon offense was balanced, as they finished with 227 on the ground, with sophomore Donald Livingston (Savanna HS) leading the way with 107 yards on 18 totes.

The Falcon defense had little answer for LA Harbor, who used screen passes to gain yards in bunches, while they also broke numerous initial tackles. Hyman, who pulled in 11 passes for 149 yards, collected a lot of them after getting past the first contact in the middle of the field. Sophomore cornerback Theodore Chambers (Mayfair HS) led the way with 10 tackles, while sophomore linebacker Jamie Turner (Dominguez HS) collected seven of his eight stops in the first half. Sophomore defensive tackle Kyle Peko (La Habra HS) dominated at times, and concluded the game with seven tackles, with three going for loss.

LA Harbor relied on Joe Walker (13 tackles) and Jeremy Lutali (12 tackles) in the middle of the field, with Jarrell Wright wreaking havoc on Fennell all night, as he contributed 11 tackles, 3.5 sackes and 4.5 tackles for loss.