On paper, the Cerritos College football team should beat Golden West by at least 21 points.

However, the game is played on grass.

While the Falcons’ offense struggled to put points on the board, the defense saved the team’s tailfeathers in a 17-3 win over the Rustlers Saturday at Falcon Stadium.

Cerritos (3-0) entered its contest ranked eighth in one national poll, while Golden West (1-3) snapped a 31-game losing streak two weeks earlier.

The defense stopped several Golden West drives throughout the game.

Falcons’ running back Josh Herrera, who rushed for 100 yards, said, “We were a little sluggish. We didn’t have that spark early in the game.

“We were going through the motions.”

Still, Falcons’ defensive end Chris Eagen, who had three sacks in the game, said a “team is a team,” and it wins or loses together even if one part of the team outperforms the other, and the Falcons “won as a team.”

Linebacker Rajaee Barnett said that it was just an off game for everybody. “We (the defense) just stepped it up, like the offense would step it up for us.”

After failing to score on their first five possessions and trailing 3-0, the Falcons got on the board when quarterback Mike Harrison hit Chris Chatman in the end zone on a crossing pattern for a 16 yard touchdown pass.

Adam Sonntag added a 37 yard field goal with 38 seconds left in the first half, giving the Falcons a 10-3 lead at the intermission.

With the Falcons in punt formation in the fourth quarter, the snap went over punter Scott Mackay’s head, giving the Rustlers first-and-goal on the Falcons’ five yard line.

An illegal procedure penalty by Golden West and a sack by Eagen sent the Rustlers back to their 18 on fourth down, where their field goal attempt was wide.

The Falcons, behind the running of Herrera and Jermaine Whiten, drove the ball 80 yards and increased their lead to 17-3 on a five yard run by Herrera.

Herrera said, “At halftime, we talked about it (the team’s offensive struggles). We were just going to pound it down their throat.”

On the next possession, the Rustlers drove to the Falcons’ 8 yard line with first-and-goal.

The Cerritos defense again tightened up, forcing fourth down.

Golden West, on fourth and goal on its nine yard line, saw its last chance to get back in the game slip away when receiver Brian Panique caught quarterback Porter Lacey’s pass beyond the back of the end zone.

Harrison called the game “interesting” and the “most frustrating game” he had been a part of.

The Falcons’ next seven games will be agianst the toughest opponents they will face, starting with Santa Ana Saturday at the Santa Ana Bowl.

“If we play like that we’ll go 0-7,” Harrison said. “If we play up to our potential, we’ll go 7-0.

“We’ve got the talent on our team to do it. It’s just up to us to get it done, and cut out those mistakes.

“We’ve got one week to prepare, (for) seven (games) in a row. Got to get it done next week.”

Barnett said, “I think we’ll do well. We have a lot of experience. The leaders on this team have to step up.”

Cerritos head coach Frank Mazzotta said the game was one of dropped passes, penalties and big mistakes.

“I think our players going in thought it was going to be a little easier than it was. They didn’t have a lot of respect for Golden West, and that’s the wrong [idea] to have, because their players are good.

“You just have to learn to respect your opponent no matter who they are, or how many wins they have.

“If you don’t, you end up playing like [we did tonight].”

Scoring summary:1st quarter:7:22 GW Bryan New 44 yd. field goal

2nd quarter:10:22 CER Chris Chatman 16 yd. pass from Mike Harrison (Adam Sonntag kick):38 CER Sonntag 37 yd. field goal

4th quarter:5:43 CER Josh Herrera 5 yd. run (Sonntag kick)

RUSHING: Golden West-James Herzog 16-62 yards; Pierre Holliday 9-32; Adam Weaver 3-(-9); Bryan New 1-(-2); Porter Lacey 9-(-59). Cerritos-Josh Herrera 11-100; Jermaine Whiten 15-84; Mike Harrison 4-(-12); Kevin Denis 2-10.

PASSING: Golden West-Adam Weaver 4-9-0-17; Porter Lacey 8-16-0-43. Cerritos-Mike Harrison 12-33-0-141.

RECEIVING: Golden West-Brian Panique 4-37 yards; Brenden Cornell 3-24; Pierre Holliday 2-14; James Herzog 3-(-15). Cerritos-Chris Chatman 5-99; Fausto Gonzalez 2-1; Andrew Harris 1-15; Jason McMillan 2-10; Jermaine Whiten 2-2.

PUNTING: Golden West-Bryan New 7-251 yards, Cerritos- Scott Mackey 2-18; Mike Harrison 2-74.

PUNT RETURNS: Cerritos- Burnell Jordan 1-8 yards; Andrew Harris 1-(-1).

KICKOFF RETURNS: Golden West-Robbie Ramirez 1-2 yards; Elijah German 1-27; James Herzog 2-37. Cerritos-Chris Chatman 1-29; Andrew Harris 1-28.