Knowing a win over Bakersfield College on Saturday would greatly enhance their post-season chances, the Cerritos College football team came up short in a 21-14 loss. The setback drops the Falcons to 4-4 on the year and 2-2 in the Northern Conference with two games remaining, as they will host College of the Canyons at 7:00 p.m. next Saturday. It was also the first loss for Cerritos against Bakersfield since 1982 and the Falcons had won six straight against the Renegades over that time.

Leading 14-13 in the fourth quarter, Cerritos had the Renegades facing a long third down situation. The defense forced an incomplete pass, but the Falcons were called for a dead ball unsportsmanlike penalty, which kept their drive alive. Bakersfield quarterback Brian Burrell finished the drive with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Marquis Johnson with 9:14 remaining. A two-point completion to Martin Brock gave the Renegades their 21-14 lead.

The Falcons were able to move the ball into the red zone late in the game, thanks in part to a pair of Bakersfield penalties. The Cerritos offense then stalled in the red zone, but on fourth and goal, it appeared as though sophomore quarterback Paul Lopez (St. Paul HS) had scored on a naked bootleg up the middle for a touchdown. But a holding penalty negated the score and on fourth down from the 12-yard line, Bakersfield's Chris Hannible broke up a pass attempt to sophomore Garion Manning (Long Beach Wilson HS) to end the threat.

Cerritos did get one more chance to send the game to extra time after the defense held, but the drive - and game - ended when Lopez (10-for-21, 160 yards) was sacked by Keylon Hollis. Lopez was making his first career start due to the injury to sophomore Morgan Fennell (Long Beach Poly HS).

Defensively, the Falcons held Bakersfield (6-2, 3-1) offensively for the first half, but several sustained drives in the third quarter resulted in a pair of touchdowns. They held the Renegades to just 23 rushing yards in the first half, and 100 for the game, but Burrell (12-for-26, 229 yards) and Curtis McGregor, who threw a 22-yard touchdown on a reverse in the third quarter, accounted for 251 passing yards.

Sophomore defensive lineman Kyle Peko (La Habra HS) had his best game of the season, posting seven tackles, while linebackers Chass Glaspie (Westcester HS) and Jordan Allen (Mater Dei HS) combined for 16 stops. Freshman running back Michael Jasper (Bellflower HS) led the ground game with 63 yards, with freshman Michael Garrison (Dominguez HS) adding 47 yards.

Photo by Daryl Peterson