A 23-yard touchdown with 1:01 left in the fourth quarter not only handed the Cerritos College football team their first loss of the season, it snapped their seven-game winning streak dating back to last season. The 30-26 loss to East Los Angeles College drops the Falcons to 4-1 on the season as they head into the bye week.

Leading, 26-23 after sophomore quarterback Jordan Simpson (Gahr HS) connected with freshman wide receiver Michael Bruner (Long Beach Wilson HS) from 28 yards out 8:22 left, the Falcons turned to their defense to maintain the lead. On the scoring drive, Cerritos was faced with a third-and-10 after the drive stalled. But Simpson found Bruner streaking across the middle of the field and went untouched into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown. Sophomore Moz Bojorquez (Mayfair HS) converted the extra point for the lead.

With 8:14 left and 90 yards to go, the Huskies (3-2) went on a 12-play drive that burned 7:13 off the clock. It culminated with Terrance Gipson hitting Tyson Schilling in the end zone on a third-and-12 play from 23 yards out.

Cerritos had one last chance to get into the end zone and pull out the win. Freshman Zedekiah Rodriguez-Brown (Los Altos HS) returned the ensuing kickoff 20 yards to the Falcons 41-yard line. Sophomore running back Davon Booth (El Monte HS) broke off a 12-yard run and then followed with a 13-yard carry, which put the ball at the Huskies 34-yard line. An incomplete pass and a sack against Simpson were followed by a timeout with :15 seconds left. Simpson, who was forced to scramble on what would turn out to be the last play of the game, had the ball stripped from him after getting sacked, which rank out the remainder of the clock.

On the night, Booth rushed for 172 yards on 23 carries with one touchdown, while freshman wide receiver Jaceon Doss (St. John Bosco HS) pulled in five of Simpson's 10 completions for 64 yards and a touchdown.

Sophomore linebacker Jonathan Fuamatu (St. Paul HS) had a stellar game with 13 tackles, while sophomore free safety Milo Lopez (La Serna HS) finished with seven stops. The secondary picked off three passes on the night, while freshman defensive tackle Samson Tupuola (Compton HS) recorded two tackles for loss and added a quarterback sack.

Photos by Daryl Peterson