After a sluggish first half where the Cerritos College football team amassed just 116 total yards, they turned things around and wore down visiting Allan Hancock College in the second half. The Falcons took to the ground game and pounded out a 19-12 National Division Northern League win over the Bulldogs on Saturday night. Next week, the team will travel to Bakersfield College for a 4:00 p.m. conference game.

Although they led the entire game, Cerritos struggled to move the ball and scored their first two touchdowns as a result of big plays. On the second play from scrimmage, freshman quarterback Jimmy Walker (Redlands HS) connected with a streaking Justin Caines (La Habra HS), who went 61 yards untouched for a touchdown with only :35 seconds expired off the clock. The second touchdown was a one-yard plunge from sophomore running back Joseph Donnell (McNair HS/Sacramento City College), but was set up by a 69-yard punt return from freshman Anthony Murray (Cherokee Trail, CO HS).

But the Bulldogs continuously moved the ball and stayed close to the Falcons. It was a 13-12 game at halftime until Cerritos scored with 9:27 left in the fourth quarter to make it 19-12. The offense had just misfired on a failed fourth down attempt, but the defense was able to forced a three-and-out on the next Hancock drive. Three straight runs by sophomore running back DeVonte Carter (Dominguez HS) was followed by completion to sophomore tight end Ainslie Johnson (Servite HS). Walker was forced out of the pocket on the next play, but spotted Johnson who was all alone downfield, and the play resulted in a 49-yard touchdown pass.

Much of the team's second half success has to go to the offensive line, who wore down a physical Bulldog defensive line. Sophomores Giovanni Chanes (Kealakehe, HI HS), Siosaia Kalavi (Kealakehe, HI HS/Globe Institute of Technology (NY) College) and Isheiko Mclaine (Norwalk HS) were joined by freshmen Junior Millan (St. Paul HS), Brendan Bailey (Rancho Buena Vista HS) and Daniel Alanouf (Los Alamitos HS) continued to pound out openings for the running backs, and accounted for 38 of their 82 rushing yards on the night in the fourth quarter. It allowed the Falcons to move the chains and keep the clock moving.

As much as the offensive line got stronger as the game progressed, so did the Cerritos defensive front seven. Struggling to handle the option play of Bulldog quarterback Curry Parham, they finally were able to get pressure in the pocket and forced numerous bad passes while stuffing the middle. On the final Bulldog drive of the game, sophomore defensive tackle Garron Featherston (Los Angeles Adventist Academy HS) had a quarterback hurry on first down, with sophomore defensive end Alex Jones (Maple Heights, OH HS/Eastern Michigan University) sacking Parham on third down, forcing a fourth-and-20 situation. On that play, Parham was forced to get rid of the ball early due to the pressure from freshman defensive end Raymon Price (Long Beach Poly HS).

In addition to the defensive line pressure, sophomore linebacker Aaron Porter (La Habra HS/UCLA) recorded 14 tackles, with sophomore linebacker Erick Zarate (Long Beach Jordan HS) and sophomore free safety Davey Monette (Dominguez HS) combining for 15 stops. As a team, Cerritos had seven tackles for loss, four sacks and five hurries to slow down the Bulldogs.

Walker was limited to 8-of-16 passing for 172 yards but threw a pair of touchdown passes. Johnson caught four passes for 88 yards, while Caines had a pair of catches for 67 yards.  The team's leading receiver, Domonique Young (Long Beach Jordan HS) was held without a catch. Sophomore running back Travis Newberry (Bellflower HS) led the team with 58 yards on the ground, while Carter added 49 yards.

Photos by Daryl Peterson