MT. SAN ANTONIO COMES BACK TO WIN CCCAA FOOTBALL CROWN OVER CCSF, 27-17

Justin Alo passed for 283 yards and ran for two touchdowns to lead host Mt. San Antonio College to a 27-17 comeback victory over City College of San Francisco in the rubber match of their five California Community College Athletic Association state championship meetings Saturday afternoon. The totals for the 6-1, 195-pound sophomore quarterback, the game MVP, surpassed CCSF’s 277 total yards in the game.

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December 13, 2014

CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION                Dec. 13, 2014      For Immediate Releas

Contact:  Fred Baer CCCFCA Communications     frdbaer@aol.com            mobile/txt: 650.483.3733

California Community College Athletic Association State Football Championship:
 MT. SAN ANTONIO COMES BACK TO WIN CCCAA FOOTBALL CROWN OVER CCSF, 27-17
 
WALNUT -- Justin Alo passed for 283 yards and ran for two touchdowns to lead host Mt. San Antonio College to a 27-17 comeback victory over City College of San Francisco in the rubber match of their five California Community College Athletic Association state championship meetings Saturday afternoon. The totals for the 6-1, 195-pound sophomore quarterback, the game MVP, surpassed CCSF's 277 total yards in the game.
 
--It was the fourth state football title overall for Mt. San Antonio and third in a match-up with the Rams. San Francisco has won a record six state crowns, starting in 1999, and has been in the championship game 14 times.    
 
"We had to overcome adversity," said Alo. "We weren't even supposed to be in the playoffs."
 
The visiting Rams (11-2) took early 3-0 and 10-3 leads – the second on a one-yard run by quarterback Jerry Peralta -- before three interceptions and a lost fumble caught up with them.
 
Mt. SAC (11-2) got the winning score just after the intermission, when CCSF punted following its initial possession of the period. Aaron Vaughn returned the punt 84 yards for a 20-10 advantage that the Rams did not overcome.
 
But they did make it interesting. Mt. SAC looked to put it away, driving 78 yards to the San Francisco one. The ball went into the end zone on the next play – but without a ball carrier. CCSF all-conference defensive end Tavita Faaiu (6-3, 250) scooped it up in the end zone and rumbled 100 yards (aided by a few key blocks) to close the gap to 20-17 with 5:58 left in the third quarter.
 
"That was a 14-point swing," said Mt. SAC coach Bob Jastrab. "I thought we were going to go up by 17."
 
The Mounties did get an insurance score after CCSF was penalized for a personal foul for the ensuing kickoff, getting short field on the Rams' 48. Alo closed out the game's scoring with a four-yard keeper with 2:25 left in the third period.
 
San Francisco had one last drive, reaching the Mounties 31 with 2:11 remaining in the game. A holding penalty and then an injury to Peralta on a sack left No. 3 QB Ricky Te-o at the helm at the 43. His desperation pass was intercepted by Mt. SAC DB Joseph Bryant on the three with 1:11 left to end the threat.
 
Peralta, a 6-0, 170-pound redshirt freshman out of Sacred Heart Cathedral, started for the second straight game in place of injured all-conference signal caller Anthony Rodriquez and completed 15 of 28 passes for 180 yards and rushed for 49 yards.
 
Mt. SAC had 383 yards of offense but neither team exceeded 100 net yards on the ground. CCSF rushed 36 times for 97 yards and Mt. SAC 42 times for 98 yards. On defense, each team had the same sack totals: five for 16 yards, which helped keep the rushing totals low, along with fumbles.  Anuanu Poleo had two sacks for the Mounties and Josephn Bryant intercepted two passes. For CCSF, Nehemiah Mitchell and Faaiu each recorded a pair of sacks.
 
"We made some mistakes," admitted CCSF defensive back Shalom Luani, the defensive player of the game with a pacesetting eight tackles (seven solo and two tackles for loss). "Our offense wasn't quite clicking in but we gave it a good effort."
 
The offensive player of the game was Mt. SAC wide receiver Derrick Macon, who caught four passes for 120 yards.
 
MT. SAC WILL VAULT FROM NO. 4 TO NO. 1: Mt. San Antonio finished the regular season ranked fourth in the state and CCSF No. 2 in the California Community College Football Coaches Association poll, conducted by the JC Athletic Bureau. The Mounties knocked off 2013 state runner-up Fullerton, 44-14, in the first round of the playoffs and then toppled No. 1 ranked Riverside, 35-14, in the Southern California finals. Mt. SAC finished with a five-game winning streak after a 28-24 conference loss to Riverside and will receive the No. 1 spot in the final poll, by CCCFCA policy. CCSF will remain No. 2.
 
"We had to overcome adversity this year," said Jastrab. "We were the number 4 seed (in Southern California). We never quit."
 
Mt. SAC's previous championship game victories came in 1997 and 2010, over CCSF, and in 2009, over College of San Mateo.