After a regular season where the Cerritos College football team went 7-3 and finished in third place in the National Conference Southern League standings, they will be hosting crosstown rival Long Beach City College on November 26 in the Western State Bowl. The Vikings (5-5) finished the regular season in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Northern League, while both teams dropped their last two games of the season.

This will mark the second season in a row the Falcons will be competing in the Western State Bowl, as they defeated San Diego Mesa College, 32-14 last season. It will also be the first meeting between Cerritos and Long Beach City since 2019 when the Vikings posted a 36-24 victory. The two schools have only met one other time in a post-season game, with LBCC recording a 34-30 win in the Southern California Bowl in 2015. The Falcons lead the overall series, 30-24-1, which dates back to 1959. The Crosstown Cup, which is awarded to the winner of the game, will also be on the line.

The Falcons opened the season by going 7-1, and were looking at either winning the division or securing a playoff spot. But losses in the final two weeks to the top two ranked teams in the state - Riverside City College and Mt. San Antonio College - left Cerritos playing in their 26th postseason bowl game in school history.

 

As for the Vikings, they started the year by winning three of their first four games, but stumbled and went 2-4 the remainder of the season. They had a chance to earn a share of the Northern League title with two other teams, but were defeated, 31-24 by College of the Canyons in the final week of the regular season.

 

Cerritos is led on offense by sophomore running back Davon Booth (El Monte HS), who ranks second in the state with 1,324 yards and averages 7.1 yards per carry. His rushing yards are currently the fourth most in a season in school history, in spite of missing one game due to an injury. Sophomore quarterback Jordan Simpson (Gahr HS) has passed for 2,248 yards and 25 touchdowns this season, with freshman Jaceon Doss (St. John Bosco HS) the leader with 34 receptions for 702 yards and 11 touchdowns. Freshman Tyron Bates (Paramount HS) has pulled in 16 passes this year and averages an astounding 38.7 yards per catch.

The defense has been paced by sophomore linebacker Jonathan Fuamatu (St. Paul HS) and sophomore safety Milo Lopez (La Serns HS), who have amassed 63 and 62 tackles, respectively. Freshman safety Chandler Nixon (La Habra HS) has recorded 57 stops this season, while Fuamatu and sophomore Daleoun Arthur (Cabrillo HS) are the team leaders in quarterback sacks, with sophomore Zyier Thornton (Lynwood HS/Los Angeles Harbor College) the leader in tackles for loss.

Long Beach City has used the quarterback tandem of Will Madonna and Qeanu Campbell-Caldwell, who have combined to throw for 2,452 and 16 touchdowns. Their favorite receiver has been Trennel Ridgley, who is tied for 10th in the state with 54 catches for 539 yards and 10 touchdowns. He is also their primary punt returner (6 returns; 131 yards) and kickoff returner (22 returns, 579 yards) Remil Brown (39 catches) and Kyle Miller (36 catches) and also utilized, while running back Jonathan Watson has handled the workload for Long Beach City. He has rushed for 743 yards and 10 touchdowns on the year.

 

 Defensive end Corey Martin has been the anchor of the defense, as he has recorded 44 tackles, along with a team-leading 9½ quarterback sacks and 20 tackles for loss. Freshman linebackers Jamarlo Campbell (52 tackles) and Austin Bressler (50 tackles) led the team in stops, while Thaddeus Dixon leads the secondary with three interceptions.