With a brand new playing surface and a fresh new campaign set to kick off, the No. 5 Long Beach City College football team looked to stay true to its winning customs and carry over its successful play from last season. Freshman quarterback Jake Meier (Los Angeles, CA) made sure to accomplish that goal by going 22-for-39 with 312 passing yards, 27 rushing yards, and five touchdowns in a 41-14 win over the Pasadena City College Lancers in Veteran Memorial Stadium on Saturday evening.
Meier wasted no time tossing his first-career touchdown pass on the Viking's opening drive after locating freshman wide receiver Cedric Byrd (Los Angeles, CA) for six points. Sophomore wide receiver Jaylen Watson (Los Angeles, CA) crossed the goal line off a pass from Meier later in the first half to cap off a six play, 72-yard drive to give Long Beach an early 14-0 lead.
Despite Pasadena trimming the deficit to seven points early in the second quarter, Long Beach exploded for three scores in the second stanza to distance themselves. Meier notched three more touchdown passes, starting with an eight-yard connection with sophomore wide receiver Ryan Augello (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA). The Vikings capitalized in the final minute of the second quarter by locating the end zone twice, with sophomore wide receiver Jacob Welch (Huntington Beach, CA) and freshman wide receiver Jabari Minix (Compton, CA) each tallying six points to give the Vikings a hefty lead at 35-7.
Freshman quarterback Grant Lowery (Huntington Beach, CA) got in on the scoring action in the fourth quarter by chucking a touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Marcus Moore (Los Angeles, CA) en route to the victory.
The Long Beach defense held the Lancers to 212 yards on the night, leading to a mere 14 points. Freshman defensive lineman Abedayo Sorekum (Long Beach, CA) led the defensive unit in tackles with six that included a tackle for a two-yard loss. Freshman Elijah Bynum (Buena Park, CA) recorded a sack for a loss of 17 yards, while sophomore defensive lineman Marcus Reynolds (Long Beach, CA) and freshman defensive end Scotty Fao (Wilmington, CA) each notched a sack for a loss of 10 yards.
Freshman running back Roderick Ashford Jr. (Long Beach, CA) acted as a spark plug in the backfield by notching eight carries for 61 yards. He averaged 7.6 yards-per-carry with his longest run going for 23 yards. Additionally, Ashford Jr. reeled in four catches for 32 yards to push his all-purpose yard total to 93. Sophomore running back Jason Floyd (Compton, CA) carried the ball eight times for 55 yards as well.
The receiving core was money throughout the entire contest. Byrd led the brigade with four catches for 71 yards, while Moore hauled in a trio of snags for 67 yards.
Long Beach recorded a whopping 590 total yards of offense with 428 yard coming on the aerial attack, while 162 came on the ground. Additionally, the Vikings were only forced to punt three times.
The Vikings (1-0) will continue action on Saturday, September 10 against Saddleback College in a rematch of the SoCal Championship game on the road at 6 p.m.