Each year, Dec. 7 is known worldwide as D-Day, in a remembrance of the Pearl Harbor attacks. There was another version of D-Day this past Dec. 7, as the Cerritos and Saddleback College football teams went up against each other in the 9th Annual Cerritos Strawberry Bowl.
For the first three quarters, the two teams were locked in a defensive struggle, with the Falcons holding tight to a 14-7 lead. But, in the fourth quarter, both teams combined to score 35 points for a 28-28 tie at the end of regulation. In overtime, the Gauchos needed six plays to score the eventual game-winning touchdown.
On their possession, the Falcons were turned away by the Saddleback defense, as the Gauchos posted a 35-28 win. The win concluded the Gaucho season record at 9-2, while the loss dropped the Falcons, who lost their first ever Strawberry Bowl match up in seven tries, to 8-3.
Saddleback came out of the game quickly and moved downfield to score a touchdown on a two-yard run by quarterback Brock Farrel on their opening drive.
On their second drive of the game by the Falcons, sophomore wide receiver Andrew Harris highlighted a scoring drive with a diving 43-yard reception, which put the ball at the Gaucho 12-yard line. Three plays later, sophomore quarterback Glenn DeBerg found sophomore wide receiver Randy Raphiel in the end zone for a seven-yard touchdown pass.
The Cerritos defensive line was putting the most pressure on the Saddleback quarterback than they had against anyone all season. On five of Saddleback’s next six series, the Falcons sacked Farrel on a third down play, which forced them to punt. The pressure was presented by defensive linemen Armando Calderon, Ricardo Fletes, Randell Bowen, Loata Toliniu, Anthony Flores, and Jimmy Ko, who combined for seven sacks on the night.
In the second quarter, the Falcons took a 14-7 lead, thanks to the efforts of sophomore running back Jermaine Whiten, who accounted for 45 of the 47 yards on the drive. He opened the drive with a 22-yard run up the middle and followed that with a 14-yard outburst. Freshman quarterback Michael Keeling, who platooned with DeBerg all season, ran the ball twice for two yards, before Whiten took it the final nine yards for the touchdown with 9:23 left before halftime.
Neither team was able to move the ball for most of the game. However, as the third quarter was coming to an end, Whiten fumbled the ball, with Saddleback’s Teralle Bush recovering it at the Gaucho 36-yard line. Due to an injury to leading rusher Darren Shorter early in the game, Saddleback turned to sophomore Chris Smith to provide a ground attack.
He stepped up and helped the Gauchos drive into Falcon territory as the third quarter came to a close. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Farrel connected with Jeff Diulio from 31 yards out for the tying touchdown.
Cerritos responded on their next drive, which opened with a 39-yard reception by sophomore receiver Scott Bajza (Cerritos). Two plays later, the Gauchos were called for pass interference, and the Falcons capitalized by scoring on a 13-yard pass from DeBerg to Raphiel on the next play.
After three solid quarters of defensive football, both teams suddenly found success moving the ball. Saddleback was able to tie the game at 21-21 six plays later, as they used their balanced offensive attack to move the ball downfield. The game-tying touchdown was a 13-yard strike from Farrel to Diulio with 11:15 left in regulation.
The defenses made another last ditch effort to take back control of the game. It started when Saddleback’s Jeff Dixon picked off DeBerg on an ill-advised pass across the field. Dixon intercepted the ball at the Gaucho 18-yard line and ran untouched 72 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. However, the Cerritos defense was not done yet.
After the Falcons punted the ball away to Saddleback, lightning struck, as sophomore cornerback Burnell Jordan picked off a deflected pass and used his world-class speed to race 70 yards for a touchdown with 5:17 left in the fourth quarter.
As the quarter came to an end, the Gauchos had a chance to win the game, but freshman kicker Aaron Barret’s attempt was blocked by sophomore All-American linebacker Justin Burks and the Strawberry Bowl was about to experience it’s first overtime game.
Saddleback had the ball first in the overtime and ran it five straight times before Farrel found Michael O’Gorman in the right corner of the end zone for a five-yard touchdown on a third down play. Cerritos, which needed to score a touchdown to send the game to a second overtime, struggled from the outset. Whiten was stopped for no gain on the first play before DeBerg’s pass into the end zone on second down was incomplete. After a four-yard swing pass to Whiten set up fourth down, DeBerg lateraled to Whiten, who was stopped for no gain, ending the game.
On the night, Whiten and Smith each rushed for 106 yards, while DeBerg completed 8-of-18 passes for 123 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. His counterpart, Farrel connected on 14-of-23 passes for 186 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. On the night, Burks, who registered 19 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack and a blocked kick, along with Saddleback linebacker Ryan Powdrell, collected 14 tackles, were named the game’s Co-Most Valuable Player.
