MONTEREY PARK – Long Beach City College was limited to 202 yards of offense and suffered a narrow 20-14 National Northern League loss at East Los Angeles College on Saturday night.
The setback dropped the Vikings to 4-3 overall and evened up their league mark at 1-1. Long Beach, East Los Angeles (4-3), Allan Hancock (3-4), and Canyons (3-4) are all tied for second place in the league standings, one game back of 2-0 Bakersfield (4-3).
LBCC and East Los Angeles both had trouble moving the ball in the first half. The game was scoreless after the first quarter and remained that way until the Huskies took their opening drive of the second 66 yards. Terrance Gipson tossed a 6-yard touchdown pass to Trejan Bridges to close out the 8-play drive and give East Los Angeles a 7-0 lead at the 10:03 mark.
The Vikings took advantage of a big defensive play on their way to scoring their first TD. With East Los Angeles driving towards the LBCC end zone, Hagen Foreman intercepted Gipson's pass at the Long Beach 2-yard line and ran it back 41 yards.
Four plays later, Trennel Ridgely ran in from 17 yards out to score and tie up the game at 7-7 with 3:25 left in the second.
East Los Angeles took over in the third, scoring a pair of touchdowns to take a commanding 20-7 lead.
But the Vikings made things interesting late in the fourth quarter. Long Beach got the ball back with five minutes remaining and went 58 yards over 11 plays to score on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Will Madonna to Ridgely. LBCC was down by six (20-14) with 2:25 left.
On the ensuing kickoff, Long Beach recovered the onside kick. But the Vikings could only get to the East Los Angeles 20-yard line before turning the ball over on downs. The Huskies were able to run out the clock and hold on for the win.
Ridgely scored a pair of touchdowns as he caught 3 passes for 14 yards while running once for 17 yards. Jonathan Watson, who last week ran for 241 yards and 4 TDs, was held to 75 yards on 17 carries.
Thaddeus Dixon led Long Beach with 9 tackles and an interception while Jamarlo Jackson had 7 tackles.
Long Beach will look to bounce back next Saturday (Oct. 29) when the Vikings host Bakersfield in a 6 p.m. Northern League game at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
- Tonight was the inaugural "Clash of the Presidents" matchup, a new rivalry series between Long Beach City College and East LA College spearheaded by the presidents of both colleges. ELAC President Dr. Alberto J. Román and LBCC President Dr. Mike Muñoz issued a challenge that the losing team's president wear the gear of the winning team and school for the following week (and post evidence of such on their social media outlets). Tonight's win by ELAC means Dr. Muñoz must sport the Husky Green around Long Beach for the whole week.
- Additionally, a new trophy was introduced for what will be an annual matchup: The Presidents' Cup.
