Long Beach City College jumped out to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter and never trailed as the Vikings improved to 2-0 thanks to a 27-17 non-conference win over Palomar College at Escondido High School on Saturday night.
Freshman quarterback Jack Lowary (Mater Dei HS) threw for 233 yards and two touchdowns on 16 of 37 passing to lead the Vikings' offense. Lowary tossed a 28-yard touchdown pass to freshman Mike Wilson (Washington Preparatory), sophomore Deonte Dixon (Paramount HS) ran in from two yards out for another TD, and freshman Sergio Garcia (Wilson HS) nailed field goals of 26 and 37 yards to give the Vikings a 20-point advantage heading into the second quarter.
Lowary and Wilson connected again in the third quarter, this time for a nine-yard TD, and Long Beach held a commanding 27-3 lead at the 8:13 mark.
But Palomar (1-1) didn't go down easy. The Comets rallied for a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to get within 10 points with 1:57 to play. On the ensuing drive, the Vikings were forced to punt after three plays giving Palomar the ball one last time. But Long Beach closed out the win with a sack by freshman Elijah Alfalava (Cabrillo HS) and freshman Shalom Tupua (Carson HS) of Palomar quarterback Risaiah Busurto as time expired.
Wilson caught four passes for 72 yards and two TDs to lead Long Beach receivers. Sophomore Darren Johnson (Cabrillo HS) led the Vikings on the ground with 11 rushes for 72 yards.
Freshman J'Quan Hawkins (Wilson HS) led the LBCC defense with nine tackles (6 solo) and a forced fumble. Freshman Daniel Palu (Jordan HS) also chipped in with six solo tackles and a sack. The Vikings totaled five sacks on the night, including 2.5 from Tupua.
Despite the final outcome, LBCC head coach Brett Peabody knows there is room for improvement.
"I'll take an ugly win over a pretty loss anytime," he said. "We will have to get better quick though."
The ugly Peabody was likely referring to was the Vikings' 23 penalties for an astounding 234 yards.
Long Beach returns to action next Saturday(Sept. 19) when it hosts Bakersfield College (0-2) in the Vikings' home opener at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.