For the second week in a row, the Cerritos College football team suffered a loss on a last-second field goal. Two weeks ago, it was Palomar who defeated the Falcons (3-5, 2-2) on the last play of the game, while on Saturday, it was host Riverside City College who converted a 36-yard field goal for a 40-38 final score. Cerritos will travel to Mt. San Antonio next Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. conference game.

It appeared as though Cerritos was going to come away with the win when freshman quarterback Jordan Simpson (Gahr HS) found Luca Caldarella (Valley Christian HS) in the back of the end zone for a seven-yard touchdown pass with 1:23 remaining in the fourth quarter. On the previous play, Simpson was able to fire a pass off his back foot to sophomore DeJour Smith (Long Beach Wilson HS/Saddleback College) on fourth-and-13, which put the ball at the seven-yard line.

The Tigers, who led 37-24 at one point, took over possession of the ball at their own 23-yard line. They moved the ball to the Cerritos 48-yard line and were faced with fourth-and-six. Riverside City quarterback Jordan Barton was able to scramble out of danger and found an open Jammal Houston for a 34-yard gain to the Cerritos 14-yard line. After a false start penalty moved the ball to the Falcon 19-yard line, back-up kicker Jacob Marroquin stepped up and connected on a 36-yard field goal as time expired.

In the first half, Cerritos held a 21-17 lead, but a few missed opportunities prevented them from extending that lead. Sitting on their own 32-yard line, Simpson was picked off by Demarco Moorer, who returned the ball to the 22-yard line. The Falcon defense stood strong and limited Riverside to a 26-yard field goal.

Later in the quarter, freshman quarterback Cade McConnell (Los Alamitos HS) drove the team downfield in just 3:52, which culminated in a four-yard TD strike to freshman tight end Jacob Leija (La Serna HS) for a 21-10 advantage. On the drive, McConnell was able to find Smith for a 17-yard completion on third and long, while a Tigers pass interference on another third down set the table for the scoring pass on the next play.

With Cerritos leading 21-17 as time was running out in the first half, freshman Milo Lopez (La Serna HS) covered up a Riverside fumble, giving the team the ball at the RCC nine-yard line. However, on second-and-goal at the five-yard line, McConnell was intercepted in the back of the end zone, which prevented the Falcons from adding to their lead heading into intermission.

The start of the second half proved to be all Riverside, as they scored on their first two drives. The Falcons failed on a fourth-and-three with Riverside driving downfield for a touchdown, while the Tigers drove 85 yards on their following possession which gave them a 10-point lead at 31-21. A Moz Bojorquez (Mayfair HS) 18-yard field on their next possession got them to within 31-24, but the offense could not punch the ball in from short yardage and had to settle for the field goal.

The duo of McConnell and Simpson combined to complete 23-of-36 passes for 236 yards and three touchdowns with Smith (4 catches, 76 yards) and freshman Davon Booth (El Monte HS), who has four receptions for 53 yards pulling in the most passes. Caldarella, Leija and sophomore wide receiver Bailey Torres (Valley Christian HS) all caught touchdown passes. The ground game was led by freshman Penieli Lauago (La Mirada HS) who had 60 yards on 13 carries. 

On defense, it was sophomore Cody Coleman (Narbonne HS/Northern Arizona University) who led the way with 10 stops to go with a forced fumble and pass breakup, while freshman Giovanni De Leon (Los Alamitos HS) contributed eight stops. A trio of players finished with six tackles, with freshman defensive tackle Izaac Tauiliili (Cimarron Memorial, NV HS) also posting two tackles for loss, a quarterback sack and a quarterback hurry.