Coaching for the first time against the program that he was a part of for 10 years, Long Beach City College head coach Brett Peabody led his Viking football squad to a 35-28 National Central Conference win at Los Angeles Harbor College on Saturday.
Winless Harbor (0-8, 0-4 NCC) held the Long Beach offense to 440 yards, its second lowest total of the season. But the Vikings and freshman quarterback Kenny Potter (San Pedro HS) came up with the big plays when they needed them most.
Potter threw for just 199 yards but made up for it on the ground by rushing for a game-high 100 yards with two touchdowns. With LBCC trailing 15-14 at halftime, Potter's 10-yard TD run at the 12:08 mark in the third quarter capped a seven-play, 70-yard drive to put Long Beach in front for good at 21-15.
Potter ended another long drive, this time going 10 plays and 71 yards, with a 15-yard touchdown pass to freshman De'Quan Hampton (Dominguez HS) with 7:07 to go in the third and closed out the Vikings' scoring with a four-yard TD run at the 11:29 mark in the fourth.
Hampton caught a 12-yard TD from Potter in the second and sophomore Keith Lakey (Dorsey HS) broke free for an 11-yard touchdown run for LBCC's first-half scoring.
Potter closed the game completing 18 of 26 passes for 199 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Hampton caught four passes for 51 yards while freshman Josiah Blandin (Poly HS) had five catches for 80 yards.
Sophomore Joel Panteau (Banning HS) also had a good game on the ground, running for 80 yards on 17 carries. On defense, sophomore Patrick Ropati (Jordan HS) led the Vikings with five tackles and a sack while sophomore Jayson Salesulu (Bellflower HS) had four tackles and a sack.
LBCC has now won two straight and improved its record 3-4 overall and 1-2 in conference play as the Vikings head into a big test next Saturday (Nov 2) at 6 p.m. when they host Mt. San Antonio College at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Photo by John Fajardo