Cerritos scored a touchdown on a fourth-and-9 pass late in the fourth quarter on Saturday night and went on to defeat SBCC 22-19 in the Golden State Bowl at Falcon Stadium in Norwalk.
The Falcons, the state's 11th-ranked team and the runner-up in the National Northern League, improved to 8-3. The Vaqueros finish at 7-4.
"There's absolutely nothing negative about this," said SBCC coach Craig Moropoulos, whose team was making its first bowl appearance in 17 years. "We didn't win the game but our guys were fighting at the end, playing hard and getting after it. I'm tremendously proud of this group.
"You're talking about Cerritos who's been in many bowls and is a powerful National Conference team. Our guys came out and thought nothing of that. We got after it right from the start."
The Vaqueros jumped ahead 13-0 and led the entire night until the final minutes.
SBCC was ahead 19-14 when Cerritos downed a punt at the Vaquero 2 with 8:44 to play. Three plays later, the Vaqueros punted from their 9 and Cerritos took over on its 48.
DeVonte Carter, who led all rushers with 125 yards on 21 tries, ran for 20 yards on first down. He added 13 rushing yards on the next four plays. Following an incomplete pass, freshman quarterback Jimmy Walker was faced with a fourth-and-9 at the SBCC 19.
Justin Caines, the offensive MVP of the game, ran a down-and-out to the left corner and made a diving grab of Walker's pass for the go-ahead score. The same two players combined on a pass in the right flat for the 2-point conversion that made it 22-19 with 3:53 remaining.
SBCC lineman Luigi Dorzin won the defensive MVP award with 10 tackles, two sacks and 2½ for loss. Ezra Taylor and James Benedix led the SBCC defense with 11 tackles apiece and safety Jacob Girgle had 10.
Quarterback Brandon Edwards completed 9-of-17 passes for 70 yards with one TD and one interception. The Falcon defense sacked him four times in the second half and they held the Vaqueros to three first downs and 38 yards in the last two quarters.
"Unfortunately, they forced us into a passing situation at the end and that was our weakness," said Moropoulos. "Our defense played fantastic and our special teams were something else. The play that really hurt us was the holding near the goal line and we ended up kicking a field goal."
Cerritos prevailed in total yards, 306-188.
The Vaqueros scored on their first drive with a 68-yard march capped by tight end Claudio Santos' leaping grab of a 5-yard TD pass from Edwards. The lead grew to 13-0 with 10:42 to go in the second quarter when a high snap by the Falcon center went into the end zone and Jay Terry pounced on it for the Vaqueros.
Cerritos scored its first TD on a 5-yard run by Carter at the 8:56 mark of the second quarter. The Falcons pulled within two at halftime, 16-14, after a 13-play, 89-yard march led to a 12-yard Walker to Caines TD pass.
The Vaqueros stretched the lead to 19-14 on Blake Levin's second field goal, a 47-yarder on the ninth play of the third quarter. The drive was kept alive by a fake punt on a fourth-and-5 from the Cerritos 45. Punter Mitch Wishnowsky took off up the middle with three blockers in front on him and ran for 20 yards. The Falcons got a late-hit penalty, moving the ball to the 13-yard line.
On first down, Tyler Higby ran into the end zone on an end-around but a holding call moved the ball back to the 20. An 8-yard sack by linebacker Aaron Porter pushed the Vaqueros back to the 30 and they settled for Levin's 47-yard field goal, which was one yard shy of his career long.
Porter (12 tackles, 2½ for loss) was named the MVP of the bowl and Carter was the offensive MVP.
"Playing in a bowl game is great for the sophomores," said Moropoulos. "They're the guys who changed the landscape of this program. They're the guys who went 14-6 with a bowl game in the last two years.
"They've made their mark, now it's up to the freshmen to continue that and for us to continue to build. I'm extremely proud of where we're heading."
