Despite losing two games in a row and three of its last five, the Cerritos College football team (6-4) will play Allan Hancock College in the Cerritos Strawberry Bowl Dec. 1 at Falcon Stadium.

The Falcons ended the season with two wins and three losses in Mission Conference Northern Division play, and ranked 12th in Southern California in the Commission on Athletics/California Community Colleges Football Coaches Association poll.

The Bulldogs (7-3) finished second to College of the Canyons in the Pacific Division of the Western State Conference, and ranked ninth in Southern California in the same poll.

The teams last met in the 1998 Strawberry Bowl, with Cerritos winning, 35-21.

Riverside running back Marcus Guzman rushed for 204 yards, 120 in the second half as the Tigers (5-5, 2-3 in Mission North) beat the Falcons, 17-7, Saturday at Riverside’s Wheelock Field.

Glenn DeBerg started the game at quarterback for the Falcons, replacing Mike Harrison, who injured his right thumb in the Pasadena game.

Harrison came into the game in the second quarter, with two interceptions and two incompletions in four pass attempts, causing DeBerg to return to the game.

Three other offensive starters sat out the game for the Falcons because of injuries: tight end Fausto Gonzalez, center Lloyd Wilson and right tackle Tom Robinson.

Chris Chatman appeared to put Cerritos on the board in the second quarter by returning a punt by Riverside’s Josh Habben 90 yards for a touchdown.

But that touchdown was wiped out because the Falcons were flagged for roughing the kicker.

With the Falcons trailing 3-0 in the third quarter, linebacker Philip Perry, who blocked a field goal attempt near the end of the first half, blocked Habben’s punt.

Two plays later, Cerritos took the lead when Chatman caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from DeBerg.

On the next series, Riverside quarterback Ronnie Hill hit Joe Roberson with a 5-yard touchdown pass to cap a 58 yard drive.

The Falcons then drove 36 yards to the Tigers’ 49, when Riverside’s Curtis Edwards stole the ball from Jermaine Whiten and ran it back 48 yards to give extend the lead to 10 points.

Whiten, who rushed for 73 yards in the game, was held to 14 yards in the second half.

Riverside, behind the rushing of Guzman and Korey Woodbury (62 yards), kept possession of the ball for 10 and one-half minutes in the fourth quarter, using a ball-control offense to seal the win.

Perry said that the Falcons had “too many missed tackles,” and said the contest was still a “hard fought game.”

Scoring summary:

2nd quarter:13:18 RCC Mark Baltagi 29 y. field goal

3rd quarter:13:28 CER Chris Chatman 10 yd. pass from Glenn DeBerg (Adam Sonntag kick)8:28 RCC Joe Roberson 5 yd. pass from Ronnie Hill (Baltagi kick)4:01 RCC Curtis Edwards 48 yd. fumble return (Baltagi kick)

RUSHING: Cerritos-Jermaine Whiten 19-76 yards; Josh Herrera 5-11; Kevin Denis 1-4; Glenn DeBerg 1-(-11). Riverside-Marcus Guzman 38-204; Korey Woodbury 9-62; Rob Braniger 1-4; Ronnie Hill 5-(-13).

PASSING: Cerritos-Glenn DeBerg 11-25-0-85; Mike Harrison 0-4-2-0. Riverside-Ronnie Hill 9-20-0-89.

RECEIVING: Cerritos-Chris Chatman 3-26 yards; Randy Raphiel 2-23; Scott Bajza 2-18; Jeremy Bulrice 1-8; Karim Lowen 1-6; Josh Herrera 1-2; Jermaine Whiten 1-0. Riverside-Joe Roberson 4-54; Rob Braniger 1-18; Rickey Moore 1-16; Kyle Bachelor 1-5; Korey Woodbury 1-5; Trevon Knox 1-1.

PUNTING: Cerritos- Scott Mackey 5-211 yards. Riverside-Josh Habben 4-144 yards.

PUNT RETURNS: Cerritos- Philip Perry 1-18 yards; Chris Chatman 1-16. Riverside-Oseas Palacios 2-11; Knite Haynes 1-7.

KICKOFF RETURNS: Cerritos-Jermaine Whiten 3-97 yards. Riverside-Lamar Sykes 1-22; Felix Bobo 1-9.

INTERCEPTION RETURNS: Riverside-Knite Haynes 1-44; Apolo Montenegro 1-3.