The Cerritos College Falcons football team lost 36 – 34 in a heartbreaking, game-winning field goal kick by Palomar College in the final seconds of the fourth quarter in their third conference matchup in the league.
Coach Grosfeld said, “we have been a great defensive team all year, they really let down today.”
“Really proud of the offense, the offense came to play today, anytime you score 34 points you gotta win the football game, the offense played to their potential, we kinda flipped the script today, the defense has been carrying us this whole year and tonight they couldn’t get it done.” When asked about the team’s offensive performance.
The Falcons kicked off at 6 p.m. to the Palomar Comets at Falcon Stadium on Oct. 30.
Lately, the strength of the Cerritos Falcons football team has come from their defensive side of the ball. The Falcons struggled on the defensive side of the ball early on in this game as Palomar scored 14 points in the first quarter.
The Falcon’s first touchdown was punched in on the goal line by Sophomore running back No.8 J’lon Manning early on in the second quarter putting the Falcon’s first points up on the board as the point after was successful by Freshman kicker No.16 Abraham Delgadillo.
The Falcons received the ball to start the second half led by an offensive drive led by quarterback No.11 Cade McConnell who drove the Falcons downfield with a series of runs led by running back No.6 Davon Booth. On fourth and goal on the Palomar 2-yard line running back, No. 25 Penieli Lauago rushed in for the Falcon’s second touchdown of the game, making it a 21 – 14 ballgame after the point after attempt was successful.
On Palomar’s next offensive drive the Falcons defense pulled through and held the Comets to a field goal after a sack on third and nine by Cerritos. The Falcon’s started to regain momentum as quarterback #5 Jordan Simpson rolled out to his right and found wide receiver No.7 Luca Caldarella on a 10-yard jump ball grab in the endzone for the Falcons third touchdown of the game, making it a 24 – 21 ball game.
Things were starting to heat up in this ball game as the Falcons defense held the Comets to another field goal making it a manageable ball game for Cerritos as the Palomar bumped up 27 – 21.
Despite the Falcons picking up the intensity in the second half, the Palomar run game was a backbreaker on the Cerritos defense as the Comets scored another rushing touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter making it 33 – 21.
However, the Comets point after attempt hit the uprights of the field goal and missed for Palomar keeping it at 33 – 21.
On the next offensive drive for the Falcons quarterback No.5, Simpson found Sophomore wide receiver No.3, DeJour Smith in the endzone for the 32-yard touchdown for the Falcons as the point after attempt was good with 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The Falcons fast-flying defense made a great play on third down on a quarterback run by the Comets, as the Comets quarterback tried to get the first down he was met by Falcons defenders who swarmed him.
On the hit, the Comets quarterback lied on the ground injured after failing to pick up the first, forcing Palomar to punt on fourth and one.
With three minutes left on the game clock for the Falcons offense needed a touchdown being down five points, on first and ten on the Cerritos 41-yard line, Quarterback No.5, Simpson threw the deep ball to wide receiver #10, Bailey Torres on a streak route for the 59-yard touchdown catch.
The Falcons attempted a two-point conversion but failed, in hopes of putting Cerritos up by three to force Palomar to tie the game on a field goal if they were to attempt a last-minute comeback with 1:47 seconds left on the game clock.
The score would be 34-33 as Cerritos kicked off with hopes of a defensive stop by their experienced defense.
But the Comets drove down the field with a series of runs that the Falcons defense failed to stop, with two seconds left on the game clock Cerritos called a timeout to ice the Palomar kicker.
The Falcon’s home side made some noise to force the Comets kicker to miss the game-winning field goal.
The kick was up and good for the Comets as they walked away with a 36 – 34 win bumping the Falcons to 2 – 1 in their conference.
Coach Grosfeld looks to rebound back on their next two conference games on the road as they face Riverside on Nov. 6.
