The Long Beach City College football squad took to the road for their final conference game against the El Camino Warriors on Saturday night. The Vikings lead wire-to-wire and hauled in a 48-36 victory with a powerful display of offensive versatility.
Long Beach wasted no time getting on the scoreboard early in the game by driving down the gridiron 80 yards off three plays. Freshman wide receiver Marcus Moore capped off the drive by hauling in a 60-yard bomb from freshman quarterback Jake Maier. After a solid defensive stand, the Vikings got the ball back and promptly scored with sophomore running back Jason Floyd taking a nine-yard carry into the end zone leading to a 14-7 advantage entering into the second quarter.
LBCC added three more touchdowns in the second frame, starting with a five play, 85 yard drive that was finished with a two-yard touchdown run from sophomore running back Tyree Harris. The running game continued to overpower the Warrior's defense as the Vikings charged down for another rushing touchdown compliments of a four-yard tote from Floyd. Freshman wide receiver Jabari Minix got in on the scoring action by hauling in a nine-yard grab for six to hand the Vikings a 34-14 advantage entering into the second half.
Long Beach only scored twice in the final half with the first score coming in the third quarter on a five play, 56-yard drive ending in a 22-yard completion to sophomore wide receiver Jacob Welch. In the fourth quarter, Long Beach drove down to the one yard line and ran a quarterback option that found Maier scurrying into the end zone for the touchdown en route to the 48-36 victory.
The running game was powerful with Floyd taking over most of the action by finding the end zone twice off 18 carries for 78 yards. Harris backed him with 14 carries for 69 yards to average 4.9 yards-per-tote.
The aerial attack remained deadly with Maier finishing the day with four passing touchdowns off a 22-for-33 mark to equal 385 yards. Additionally, he carried the ball five times for 15 yards leading to one rushing touchdown.
Moore surpassed the century mark in receiving yards by hauling in four grabs for 117 yards and one touchdown. Minix was three yards shy off reaching 100 yards by snagging seven catches for 97 yards and a touchdown. Harris displayed some catching ability out of the backfield by recording five catches for 35 yards and a touchdown.
Freshman linebacker Darnay Harris was a monster on the defensive end by making 10 stops and recording a sack for a loss of six yards. Sophomore linebacker Isaia Rostens muscled up for seven stops, while freshman defensive back Guy Alford and freshman defensive lineman Gilbert "Bubba" Valera earned six tackles each.
Freshman kicker Sergio Garcia was reliable by booting home six extra points.
With the victory, the Vikings earned their second-consecutive Co-Conference Championship in the National-Central Division.
Head Coach Brett Peabody was thrilled with the outcome and happy with his guy's performance throughout the year.
"I'm just proud of our guys for battling back and winning," said Peabody. "To come back, tie for a conference title in the toughest division – the central is a dogfight and I would much rather tie for first then come in second."
Due to two losses against top-ranked teams, the Vikings finished fifth in RPI and were left out of the playoffs. However, they will play host to the Bakersfield College Renegades in the Western State Bowl on Saturday, November 19 at 6 p.m.
Please stay tuned to www.lbccvikings.com for further information regarding the bowl game.