|
Game Stats | Season Stats
October 1, 2005
Football:
Viking comeback falls short, LBCC falls to Cerritos 28-24
The Long Beach City College football team suffered a tough 28-24 loss to rival Cerritos College in a Mission Conference interdivision game at Veterans Memorial Stadium Saturday night.
Cerritos scored 14 points late in the contest and held off a last minute drive by Long Beach to earn the win.
The Falcons led 14-7 heading into the locker room at halftime after running back Jeron Johnson snuck in from just outside the goal line as time expired.
Long Beach came charging back in the second half, posting 17 unanswered points.
Sophomore Brent Crossen (Valley Christian HS) nailed a 23-yard field goal with 10:06 left in the third and sophomore quarterback Alex Aispuro (Jordan) tossed touchdown passes to freshman wide receiver LaTroy Dinkins (Jordan) (6:37, 3rd) and sophomore wide receiver Eric Williams (Wilson) (14:55, 4th) to give the Vikings a commanding 24-14 lead.
On their next possession, the Falcons capped a 7-play, 88-yard drive with a Jeff Kline 8-yard TD pass to wide receiver Jerrad Nutt to cut LBCC’s lead to 24-21 with 10:34 left in the fourth.
Cerritos regained the lead late in the fourth. This time, the Falcons went 54 yards in 8 plays after Kline scrambled in from 14 yards out for the eventual game-winning touchdown.
Long Beach had one last chance to pull out the win but came up short.
Sophomore Eddie Patterson (Cabrillo) returned the ensuing kickoff 31 yards to start the Vikings’ final drive at their own 40-yard line.
Aispuro completed three of his next five passes to get Long Beach to Cerritos’ 26-yard line. Aispuro broke free for a 15-yard run and gained three more on another scramble to put the Vikings at the Cerritos 8-yard line with just 20 seconds left in the fourth.
But that was as close as the Vikings would get. Aispuro was sacked by Cerritos line backer John Lehauli on the next play and the offense was unable to get off another as the game clock expired.
Penalties plagued the Viking throughout the game as LBCC was flagged 15 times for 130 yards.
Aispuro closed the game throwing for 257 yards on 28 of 43 passing with 2 TDs and an interception. Sophomore wide receiver Stanley Franks (Downey) led LBCC with 10 catches for 84 yards and sophomore Grant Thorne (San Pedro) totaled 71 yards rushing on 13 carries.
On defense, sophomore free safety Damion Porter (Lakewood) led the Vikings with 7 tackles (4 solo), while sophomore defensive tackle Fale Westbrook (Northridge) had 6.5 tackles (5 solo) and one sack.
The win gives Cerritos (2-3) possession of the Crosstown Cup for the next year. The perpetual trophy is given to the winner of the rivalry game.
Long Beach (3-2), along with most of the state has a bye next week. The Vikings look to get back on track when they host Mt. San Antonio College in their American Division opener on October 15. Kickoff is set for 5 pm at Vets Stadium.
|
