Through the first half and early into the third quarter, the Cerritos College football team was able to trade touchdowns with the high-octane Ventura College offense. After an early touchdown in the third quarter, the Falcons were tied with the Pirates, 35-35. But Ventura (8-2, 5-0) went on to score the final 21 points of the game for a 56-35 decision in the final game of the season for Cerritos, who finished 4-6 on the year and 2-3 in the Northern League.

On their opening drive of the third quarter, sophomore running back Kishawn Holmes (Vista Murrieta HS) carried the ball the first four plays of the drive after freshman kick returner Jonathan McKee (Monrovia HS) put the team at their own 30-yard line to start the drive. On a 12-yard Holmes run, Ventura was called for a facemask penalty, with sophomore running back Nick Mitchell (Mount Si, WA HS/Oregon State University) scrambling 19 yards for the game-tying touchdown on the next play.

The Pirates drove into Falcon territory on their ensuing drive, but missed a field goal. Looking to ride the momentum of their offensive success, Cerritos stalled and gave Ventura possession of the ball at their own 40-yard line after a 19-yard Brody Renaud (Bellflower HS) punt. The potent Pirates offense, behind Oregon State University bound quarterback Jake Luton, quickly moved downfield and took a 42-35 lead on a 27-yard scoring strike to Tanner Gee. Luton finished the night 31-of-48 for a school-record 474 yards and five touchdowns.

For the remainder of the game, Cerritos could only get into Ventura territory once, but had their drive in the fourth quarter come to an end when Mitchell was picked off at the 7-yard line. Mitchell finished the game 13-for-20 for 197 yards and two touchdowns, along with 44 rushing yards and two more scores.

Trailing 14-0 early in the game, Mitchell connected with freshman wide receiver Jacob Gasser (Los Alamitos HS) to get down to the Pirates 1-yard line. Holmes got the team on the board with a 1-yard run. Then, with the team down 21-7, Mitchell connected with Holmes on a 20-yard swing pass for a touchdown.

The teams continued to trade touchdowns on each possession, this time Mitchell teamed with sophomore tight end Elijah Rogers (East Jefferson, LA HS) for 15 yards and then from 25 yards for a touchdown with 9:37 left in the first half to get to within 28-21. A defensive stand by the Cerritos defense enabled them to tie the game at 28-28, with Holmes accounting for 33 yards on the ground and Mitchell taking it the final 15 yards for a touchdown. The scoring play came on play after Mitchell hit sophomore wide receiver Landon Jones (La Mirada HS) for 12 yards on a fourth-and- six play.

With his 158 yards on the ground, Holmes concluded the season with a state-leading 1,120 yards, which is the seventh most in a season in school history. His 2,088 career rushing yards are the second most in school history and trail only Andre Wooten, who amassed 2,307 from 1986-87.

Sophomore linebacker Alex Bush (La Habra HS, pictured, left), who had 12 stops on the night, finishes the season with 106 tackles, which is tied for third in the state and the most in Southern California. By going five-for-five on the night, sophomore kicker Adrian Saldana (Walnut HS) concluded the season a perfect 29-for-29 on extra points and finished his career 66-for-67.

Photos by Daryl Peterson