Just like in their loss to Fullerton College the week before, the Cerritos College football team was victimized by turnovers and penalties on Saturday against Mt. San Antonio College. As a result, the Falcons were defeated, 48-21 to drop to 1-2 in the year. They have a bye week and then return home to face Pasadena City College at 7:00 p.m. on October 5.

The Falcons saw two first half turnovers turned into Mountie (2-1) touchdowns, while several ill-timed penalties helped Mt. SAC drives, as the team committed three turnovers and were called for 12 penalties.

Trailing 7-0 in the first quarter, Cerritos was pinned back on their own 2-yard line after a punt was down. Sophomore quarterback Cody Clements (La Habra HS/Washington State University) was then picked off by Elisha Henley at the Falcon 35-yard line, and he returned it to the Cerritos 7-yard line, with a personal foul penalty moving the ball to the 3-yard line. On the first play of the second quarter, Justin Alo scored from a yard out for a 14-0 Mt. SAC lead.

On the team's next possession, it looked like the Falcons would cut their deficit in half, until a bad handoff exchange on the Mountie 7-yard line resulted in a turnover that ended their drive. Mt. SAC needed just seven plays to move downfield and scored again for a 21-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

The team finally got on the scoreboard with 3:16 left when sophomore running back Elijhaa Penny (Norwalk HS/College of the Sequoias) scored from one yard out to cap a 12-play drive that also included four false start calls against the Falcons and a negated Mt. SAC interception due to a holding penalty.

There were times during the game when Cerritos showed signs of a solid running attack. Penny finished with 38 yards rushing, while freshman Tonny Lindsey (Long Beach Wilson HS) added 42 yards. But the offense was stagnant most of the game, with Clements completing just 12-of-21 passes for 176 yards. He did toss a pair of touchdown passes, a 5-yarder to Penny and a 57-yarder to sophomore Ricky Carrigan, Jr. (Cabrillo HS), both in the third quarter.

Sophomore defensive lineman David Moala (Serra HS) recorded eight tackles and a quarterback sack, while the duo of sophomore Zach Hadlock (Huntington Beach HS) and freshman Josias Amisone (Carson HS) shared the team lead with nine stops. Freshman linebacker Erick Zarate (Long Beach Jordan HS) had a fine interception that he brought back for 36 yards, but the overall defensive effort did not prevent Mt. San Antonio from running up 478 total yards, with 366 coming through the air.

Photos by Daryl Peterson