Pete Moye’
Sports Button

Saddleback College’s running back Donnell Dickerson pushed Falcons back, ending in a 56-21 loss for Cerritos College football team on Saturday at Gaucho Stadium.

On avenging their loss in the SoCal Bowl last season, Dickerson said, “We still had that sour taste in our mouth and we decided to just come out here and just execute.”

In the first quarter, the Falcons were behind as the Gauchos scored three touchdowns, ending the quarter 21-0.

Saddleback quarterback Ben Gomez said, “We wanted to come back and make a statement.”

Cerritos responded in the second quarter and pushed to score points as Falcons running back Thomas Gray ran for a touchdown.

With one touchdown and 17 yards on 26 carries throughout the game, Gray said, “People were just not ready to go out a play football basically.”

Once Saddleback scored another touchdown, Cerritos then came back with quarterback Brandon Denker passing to tight end Clark Evans with a touchdown and a two point conversion.

The first half ended with Saddleback ahead 28-14.

When it came to problems on the field, Cerritos defensive back Dwan Gill said, “Execution. Execution is definitely a big part in our defense that we lack of right now.”

Cerritos linebacker Dominick Sierra agrees, adding, “It’s not just the DBs, it was everyone.”

In the third quarter, Saddleback scored two touchdowns and Cerritos were able to score one more touchdown with Denker throwing to wide receiver Garion Manning.

However, Saddleback scored two more touchdowns, ending the Falcons’ comeback.

Gauchos offensive lineman Kyle Long said about Cerritos, “This is a team where if you let off one bit then they’ll jump right back at you and we saw that last year. They got us in the playoffs so we had something to prove this year.”

Due to a bye week, Cerritos will not be playing again until Oct. 15. Cerritos ranked No. 18 in the state will play away against No. 13, Ventura College.

Last season, Cerritos played Ventura in the National Division Northern Conference opener and lost 28-21 with two chances in the fourth quarter to score. It was also the first time that Cerritos lost to Ventura with more than five points between the two teams.