Comets’ Ogles makes Falcons leer

By Nick Pellegrino
ECS staff writer

NORWALK —- Forget about the award for conference kicker of the year, the battle may fall to a race between a pair of kickers from San Diego County.

On Saturday (Oct. 30), Palomar College placekicker Landon Ogles may have grabbed the late lead among voters.

Ogles, a freshman from Rancho Bernardo High, booted a 24-yard field goal as time expired, allowing the Comets to stun host Cerritos College, 36-34, in a National Conference/Central classic at Falcon Stadium.

The Comets (4-4, 2-1) led the entire contest until Cerritos (3-4, 2-1) secured its only lead on their final possession when Bailey Torres hauled in a pass from Jordan Simpson and raced 59 yards for a touchdown to give the Falcons a 34-33 advantage.

Cerritos missed the ensuing 2-point conversion, which proved critical.

Palomar countered with an 8-play, 65-yard drive, moving as close as the Cerritos-7 before settling for the Ogles’ game-winner with zeroes remaining on the clock.

Palomar led throughout, holding a double-digit lead of 33-21 with 13:22 remaining. However, Cerritos answered with a pair of scores, capped by Simpson’s TD pass with 1:54 left. He earlier connected with DeJour Smith from 32 yards out.

The Comets’ winning drive started on a play fake, with running back Tawee Walker rumbled for 26 yards to quickly move into Cerritos territory.

Three plays later, running back Zeke Payne ran for 3 yards and a third-down conversion. Richardson followed with ground gains of 15, 6, and 5 yards, allowing Richardson to center the ball between the goalposts then calling a timeout with two seconds to go.

Payne completed 21-of-33 passes for 257 yards and a pair of scores.

Meanwhile, Walker complete the balanced attack with 176 rushing yards on the ground on 23 carries.

On defense for the Comets, Rickie Davis Jr. led the way with 9 tackles, Jalen Dye posted 8, followed by 7 stops each from Lkuek Manos and Khalid Walker.

Palomar mounted a 14-0 cushion through the first qperiod, then carried a 21-7 advantage into halftime. Three of the four TD drives went 73 yards or more.