Cerritos College
Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

Talon Marks

Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

Talon Marks

Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

Talon Marks

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Falcons bite Bulldogs late to snag victory

Two weeks ago, Cerritos Falcon quarterback Jimmy Walker said, “When I’m down someone picks me up, when they’re down I pick them up.” That is exactly what Walker had to do on a night where the running game only accounted for 44 of the 374 yards in a 31-28 win over the Allan Hancock Bulldogs.

Behind the arm of Jimmy Walker and the leg of Corey Bojorquez, Cerritos College improved to 6-1.

Walker doesn’t seem fazed in a time where all the weight seems to be on his shoulders.

“It’s really no added pressure,” he said. “It’s just executing what you’re trying to do for the majority of the game and we hit them on some big plays.”

Walker threw for 330 yards and four touchdowns. Three of the touchdowns were to wide receiver De’Jai Whitaker including a 75-yard score on the first play of the game.

“I preferred the deep ball because the corner[backs] were playing press and they couldn’t really back up,” Whitaker explained.

Whitaker averages 128.8 yards per game versus just 34.5 last season.

The Bulldog defense was aggressive for the majority of the game. Even sending eight players at a time at Walker.

“They [were] playing the bear defense, which means eight men at the line of scrimmage, you have to throw the ball,” head coach Frank Mazzotta made clear. “We didn’t have any choice.”

It seems Whitaker has evolved into a premier target for Walker as he accounts for 10 of Walker’s 21 touchdowns on the season.

The aforementioned running game was not a factor in this game as it has been in the past few weeks as Falcon rushers only averaged 1.8 yards per carry.

Surprisingly, it did not shock Mazzotta as he looked at the recent past for the Bulldog defense.

“Long Beach City College who was undefeated gained one yard on them. The team the week before was minus eight,” Mazzotta recalled. “You just can’t run on that bear defense and everyone knows it, so you have to throw it around.”

While the Falcons’ offense found rhythm through the air, the Bulldogs’ offense just couldn’t get any big yardage through the air.

Allan Hancock starting quarterback Curry Parham only had seven completions for 80 yards and an interception.

Deon Smalls is the one who came up with the interception.

However, the secondary seemed to stay in unison especially when it was needed most.

On two separate occasions, defensive back Anthony Murray went down. Following the game, Murray admitted that the second stint was because the wind was knocked out of him.

The first time Murray went down he instantly grabbed for his right ankle. He missed the home opener due to a slight ligament tear in that same ankle.

Despite the past, Murray doesn’t seem to let it bother him.

“It was a tweak. I know it’s injured, but I try my best not to think about it in the midst of the game, I just play through it,” Murray stated.

After he was seen holding his ankle, fellow defensive back Thadd Daniels had to be called from his teammate’s side.

In due course, it came as no surprise that with the game on the line on fourth and long Allan Hancock would target the injured Murray to try and win the game.

“Today it really wasn’t my day. It’s not how you start its how you finish,” Murray said.

While Murray may not have been worried in crunch time Mazzotta wasn’t as confident even joking that Murray was four feet, two inches.

It is quite possible that the superstar of the game was punter Corey Bojorquez, as he pinned Allan Hancock inside the 20-yard line two times. However, it wasn’t so much the number of times he did it, but when he did it.

“You have to show it you can’t just be all about the talk,” Bojorquez explained. “After the game everyone sees it and people actually realize that kickers do make a difference.”

Prior to the season, Mazzotta went on record in acknowledging that he may well have.

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About the Contributor
Terrel Emerson, Online Editor
Hello all, I am Terrel "Chatterbox" Emerson. I was the Online Editor for the 2016 Fall Semester. I am a sports buff. My work can be seen on terrelemerson.wordpress.com. Follow me on twitter @sir_chatterbox. Dodgersnation.com, check it out!
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Falcons bite Bulldogs late to snag victory