It's always amazing that when a game features 73 points and 754 total yards that it's a defensive play that secures a win. In the Cerritos College football team's 38-35 win over host Mt. San Antonio College on Saturday afternoon, it was a fourth down stop by the defense late in the fourth quarter that secured the win. The Falcons (4-5, 3-2) close out their season with a rescheduled game against Southwestern College next Saturday at 6:00 p.m. at Falcon Stadium.

Faced with 4th-and-one at the Cerritos 33-yard line, the Mounties (6-3, 2-3) brought in their jumbo package with 290-pound defensive lineman Salisto Tuia coming in as a blocking fullback. But sophomore linebacker Anthony Miller (Don Lugo HS) was able to slip past the guard and stuffed Yisrael Stephen for a two-yard loss, with freshman Angel Garcia (St. Paul HS) also helping to bring down the back.

Taking over possession of the ball with 2:28 remaining, the Falcons were able to run out the clock, which included an unsportsmanlike penalty on the Mounties after a third down play, which gave Cerritos a first down.

On their previous possession, the Falcons were able to drive the ball to the Mt. SAC 18-yard line, but freshman kicker Abraham Delgadillo (Gahr HS) had his 34-yard field goal blocked by Tuia and returned to the Cerritos 42-yard line. That possession for Mt. SAC ended up resulting in the fine defensive play by Miller that locked down the win.

It was a game rife with turnovers, as the teams combined for seven, while the Falcons had a punt partially blocked, a bad snap on a punt and a field goal blocked. But it was the Mounties inability to hang on to the ball that aided Cerritos, as they lost five of their six fumbles. Over the course of nine combined drives, there were four lost fumbles, two times teams turned the ball over on downs and the blocked field goal.

Leading 10-7 in the second quarter, sophomore linebacker Victor Clanton (Serra HS) recovered a fumble at midfield and the Falcons went on to drive the ball 49 yards in :36 seconds, with an other personal foul against Mt. SAC helping Cerritos. With 8:30 left in the first half, freshman quarterback Jordan Simpson (Gahr HS) connected with sophomore wide receiver Bailey Torres (Valley Christian HS) for a 23-yard touchdown and a 17-7 advantage. That lead would quickly become 24-7 when freshman quarterback Cade McConnell (Los Alamitos HS) found Torres in stride and he raced 87 yards for a touchdown. On the play, it looked like McConnell has missed his initial target, but Torres was there to pull the ball in and used his speed to outrace the Mountie secondary.

Prior to halftime, Mt. SAC would answer back with a pair of touchdowns. A poor punt by Delgadillo gave Mt. SAC good field position for their first touchdown, while a bad snap on a punt resulted in the Mounties covering the ball at the Falcons 22-yard line. It took them two plays to score with just :05 seconds left in the first half.

Mt. SAC took their first lead of the game in the third quarter when they used 11 plays to drive 69 yards for a touchdown. Another penalty on the Mounties on a Cerritos fair catch gave the Falcons a first down at their own 45-yard line. Simpson connected with Torres on a short pass and he broke two tackles to race 36 yards on the first play of the drive. Four plays later, Simpson found freshman Penieli Lauago (La Mirada HS) on a swing pass and he took it the final six yards for a touchdown.

With the Mounties in possession of the ball to start the fourth quarter, sophomore Logan Applewhite (Cathedral HS) sacked and stripped the ball from Mt. SAC quarterback Alex Flores, with freshman nose guard Izaac Tauiliili (Cimarron Memorial, NV HS) recovering the fumble. The first play after the fumble recovery resulted in a 49-yard TD strike from Simpson to freshman Luca Caldarella (Valley Christian HS) down the sideline and the receiver broke a tackle to make it into the end zone for a 38-28 lead with 14:39 left.

That set the table for the rest of the quarter and Cerritos coming through on defense to register the win.

Simpson completed 14-of-22 passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns, with McConnell adding 138 passing yards and a touchdown on 12-of-19 passing. Torres had a superb day with seven receptions for 159 yards, while he also returned four kickoffs for 80 yards.

Sophomore Cameron Minor (Mayfair HS) posted eight tackles on defense, with Garcia adding seven stops and freshman Milo Lopez (La Serna HS) producing six tackles. The Falcon defense had 10 tackles for loss and broke up five passes, with freshman LaVario Wiley (Banning HS) accounting for three of them.

Photos by Daryl Peterson