Pete Moye’
Sports Button
The Homecoming matchup proved to be favorable for the Cerritos College football team with wide receiver Robert Abeyta grabbing two of the team’s five touchdowns as the Falcons (4-2, 2-0) defeated El Camino College, 42-21 at Falcon Stadium on Saturday.
“We wanted to come out as strong as possible and we did it,” Abeyta said.
The freshman receiver caught one of his touchdowns to go along with 25 yards in the first half, while ending the game with 75 yards off five catches.
Head Coach Frank Mazzotta attributes quarterback Brandon Denker’s success early in the game to spectacular catches made by receivers like Abeyta.
“Robert (Abeyta) to me is as good as any runner around. He is starting to grow up a little bit,” Mazzotta said.
Mazzotta said the team has settled on Denker as the team’s starting quarterback.
Denker finished the game with three touchdowns and 188 yards throwing the ball.
Mazzotta stated that the team has gradually improved and less mistakes have been made because of youth.
ECC, who entered the game undefeated, acquired wins against Palomar College and Los Angeles Harbor College, the same teams Cerritos failed to defeat early in the season.
“Each week we have been getting better and better. This week we wanted to avenge our losses to Palomar and LA Harbor,” Mazzotta said.
The Falcons’ ground attack compared to ECC’s showed a 158-yard difference in Cerritos’ favor.
Despite missing the team’s leading rusher in Thomas Gray, running back Donald Livingston along with a core of Falcon running backs took on the duties.
“We knew [Gray] was going to be down for the season, so we went out there and ran hard for him,” Livingston said, “the running backs and offensive line really stepped it up.”
Livingston scored off a 10-yard run with less than two minutes left in the first half after the defense pushed ECC into their own endzone collecting two points from a safety.
He finished with two touchdowns and 75 rushing yards on the night.
With 11:34 left in the third quarter, ECC running back Ricky Johnson ran for the team’s second score of the game.
Cerritos would hold ECC to 61 yards in the whole second half, with 24 coming from ECC wide reciever Jarrad Shaw’s touchdown with 47 seconds in the game.
Linebacker Dominick Sierra led Cerritos College with six total tackles, while defensive backs Chris Metcalf, Dwan Gill and Daniel Roundtree each had an interception.
Sierra was also among five other Falcons to record a sack.
The Falcons will host College of the Canyons on Oct. 29.
