SBCC rose to the occasion and led Cerritos for most of the way in the Golden State Bowl football game on Saturday night in Cerritos.
But the Falcons scored with 3:53 left on a fourth-and-nine pass from the 19 and defeated the Vaqueros 22-19.
Quarterback Jimmy Walker hit Justin Caines for the touchdown and then completed a 2-point conversion pass. On SBCC’s next possession, Anthony Stevens intercepted a pass from Brandon Edwards to 2:07 to go. The Vaqueros got one more possession but time ran out on them.
SBCC got off to a good start, driving 68 yards in 10 plays on its first possession and scoring a touchdown on a 5-yard pass from Edwards to Claudio Santos.
The defense stepped up as lineman Jay Terry recovered a high snap in the end zone for a touchdown. The PAT went wide, leaving the Vaqueros with a 13-0 lead.
Cerritos gets on the board on a 5-yard run by DeVonte Carter, capping a 75-yard drive.
SBCC responded with a drive that ended in a 27-yard field goal by Blake Levin with 5:06 left in the second quarter. That gave the Vaqueros a 16-7 lead.
Cerritos came back and scored just before halftime. Walker hit Caines on a 12-yard touchdown with 15 seconds remaining in the first half to pull to within 16-14.
The Vaqueros expanded their lead to 19-14 on a 47-yard field goal by Levin with 11:04 to go in third quarter.
The score remained until Cerritos put together its game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter.
SBCC’s Luigi Dorzin was named the game’s defensive MVP. The overall MVP was Cerritos linebacker Aaron Porter.
