It was truly an explosive first half for the Cerritos College football team, as they rolled up 334 yards and 28 points to take a 28-10 lead against Palomar College at Escondido High that they would never relinquish. Despite a second half surge by the Comets (3-3), the Falcons were able to hold on for a 35-20 non-conference win. Cerritos (3-2) will now host Allan Hancock College at 7:00 p.m. next Saturday in their annual Homecoming Game.

The first half was one of explosive big plays on offense, while the defense was shutting down Palomar at every turn. On their opening drive, sophomore quarterback Morgan Fennell (Long Beach Poly HS) completed 5-of-7 passes, with the drive culminating with a 34-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-14 to sophomore wide receiver Garion Manning (Long Beach Wilson HS). The defense turned in a three-and-out series the first time on the field, with Fennell continuing to exploit the Comet secondary. After a 26-yard run by freshman running back Michael Garrison (Dominguez HS) and a 10-yard penalty, Fennell found sophomore wide receiver Robert Abeyta (Servite HS) across the middle. Abetya broke a tackle by Palomar's Donovan Thurman at the 28-yard line and scored on a 75-yard touchdown pass with 9:23 left in the first quarter.

Later in the quarter, freshman Travone Davis (Dominguez HS) intercepted Ryan Lamb at the Cerritos 44-yard line and returned it to the Comets 41-yard line. On the first play after the interception, sophomore wide receiver Silver Vaifanua (Long Beach Millikan HS) caught a streaking pass across the middle for a 33-yard gain, with sophomore running back Donald Livingston (Savanna HS) finishing the drive with a three-yard touchdown run.

By the time Garrison scored in the second quarter and the Falcons took a 28-10 lead into halftime, they had out-gained Palomar 334-109.

The Comets did get to within 28-20 in the fourth quarter, but Cerritos went on a ball-control drive in the fourth quarter that led to their final touchdown as the final seconds ran out. They had a chance to score earlier in the quarter, but sophomore tight end Tristan Henderson (Los Alamitos HS) dropped a wide open touchdown pass in the end zone, which was followed by a lost fumble. That's when Palomar was able to respond with a 64-yard completion that led to a a touchdown with 7:13 left in the fourth quarter.

Even though they closed the gap in total yards (488-301), the Falcons relied on the arm of Fennell (25-of-37, 309 yards) with Abeyta (7 catches, 132 yards) his favorite target. On defense, it was sophomore linebacker Chass Glaspie (Westchester HS) and Jordan Allen (Mater Dei HS) who led the team with nine tackles each with the secondary breaking up seven passes. Glaspie also had three tackles for loss, with sophomore Sola Hala (St. John Bosco HS) pressuring Lamb with three quarterback hurries and finished with four tackles.