The No. 5 Long Beach City College football team took to its home gridiron for the second time in as many weeks and faced off against the Golden West College Rustlers on Saturday night. Despite trailing by six points entering into the second half, the Vikings turned on the heat and completely took over the momentum in the contest by putting up 28 second-half points en route to a 42-20 victory to push their record to 4-1 on the season.
The Vikings were slow to wake up in the contest by allowing the Rustlers to charge down the field twice with ease, putting Long Beach in a 0-14 hole early on. Golden West then expanded on their lead in the earl goes of the second quarter by scoring yet another touchdown to put Long Beach in a 0-20 rut.
However, LBCC remained poised and began to drive the ball down the field successfully. Freshman running back Roderick Ashford Jr. (Long Beach, CA) ignited a fire in the offense by kicking off a second-quarter drive with a 26-yard run. After a slow start, freshman quarterback Jake Maier (La Habra, CA) connected with freshman wide receiver Kyrin Cannon (Carson, CA) for a 16-yard touchdown pass to trim the deficit to 7-20.
After a defensive stop that was capped off by a dual sack from freshman defensive back Guy Alford (Inglewood, CA) and freshman linebacker Darnay Harris (Bellflower, CA), Ashford Jr. gathered a pitch he nearly lost control of and side-stepped a defender and slide his way inside the pylon for a four yard touchdown run, thus trimming the deficit to 14-20 entering into halftime.
Regardless of starting the third quarter with a three-and-out drive, Long Beach responded by forcing a three-and-out on Golden West to give the ball back to their offense in a hurry. They promptly responded, as Maier linked up with sophomore wide receiver Jacob Welch (Huntington Beach, CA) for a seven yard touchdown pass over the middle for six points, taking the lead for the first time in the game at 21-20.
The Long Beach defense cranked up the intensity by giving the Golden West offense endless fits for the remainder of the game. After a Long Beach score, the defense wanted a taste of the end zone. Harris did just that by picking off the Golden West's quarterback and returning in to the house for a 79-yard touchdown. Freshman kicker Sergio Garcia (Long Beach, CA) booted home the PAT to give LBCC a 35-20 lead.
Later in the third quarter, Maier continued to helm the offense in a positive direction by finding freshman wide receiver Cedric Byrd (Los Angeles, CA) for a 12 yard touchdown. The duo continued to share a solid connection by finding each other once more in the end zone on a 12-yard touchdown en route to the victory.
The offense truly picked up the pace in the latter half of the contest, but the defense ignited the flame. It was evident in the fourth quarter, as sophomore defensive lineman Marcus Reynolds (Long Beach, CA) had a hunger for the quarterback by sacking him on two-consecutive plays on Golden West's opening drive of the fourth quarter. From then on, the game was all in Long Beach's control.
Sophomore linebacker Isaia Rosten (Long Beach, CA) recorded a team-high seven stops with four coming in solo fashion. Freshman linebacker Manu Tui-Enesi (Carson, CA) and freshman defensive lineman Abedayo Soremekun (Long Beach, CA) each recorded five stops. Jordan had the huge interception on the night, while freshman corner Kobe Williams (Long Beach, CA) hauled in a nice diving interception nearing halftime.
On the offensive front, Ashford Jr. handled most of the rushing duties in the game by carrying the ball 12 times for 77 yards leading to a touchdown. Sophomore running back Tyree Harris (Pasadena, CA) also carried the ball 12 times for 46 yards.
Maier recovered from a rough start to finish with 198 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception on an 18-for-31 throwing night. Byrd was his largest beneficiary by hauling in six grabs for 49 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Vikings will hit their bye week this upcoming Saturday, but return to the gridiron on Saturday, October 15 to face off against Mt. San Antonio on the road at 6 p.m.