Olympians sacked by Falcons in bowl

By Nick Pellegrino
ECS staff writer

KEARNY MESA —- In part of role-reversal from the regular season, it was the defense of Cerritos College which out-shined the defenders from San Diego Mesa, as the Falcons allowed just one significant play in the second half to capture the Western State Bowl, 32-14, Saturday (Nov. 27) at Merrill Douglas Stadium.

Mesa, which had allowed a mere 17 points in the third quarter through 10 contests, was tagged for 14 immediately after halftime, then yielded the victory-clinching touchdown in the final minutes to place a damper on what still was a highly successful season for the Olympians (7-4 overall).

Cerritos, which landed a bowl berth with just a .500 record, finished 6-5 overall.

Both defenses dominated in the first half. Following a scoreless opening stanza, Cerritos quarterback Jordan Simpson has his side the lead for keeps. First, he connected with Luca Caldarella on a 30-yard TD strike then found Jacob Leija on a 2-point pass for an 8-0 lead.

Mesa finally answered on a mammoth 9-play, 91-yard TD drive, scoring with just 12 seconds left in the half.

Olys quarterback Gunnar Gray found Cael Patterson on a 26-yard pass, with Dominic Camacho adding the PAT to trim the deficit to 9-7. However, the TD pass was the longest on the evening for Gray, who completed just 16-of-28 passes for 186 yards before getting lifted in the final period.

The second half belonged to Cerritos, running off 17 straight points.

The Falcons only needed 1:18 to score. Calderella collected a 64-yard pass from Cade McConnell, then on the next Falcons series, grabbed his third score came on a 9-yard pass between the pair.

Abraham Delgadi converted a 26-yard field goal in the fourth to open a 25-7 advantage.

Gray was replaced by Quincy Welch, who quickly found Timieion Jackson on a 64-yard bomb. But Cerritos scored on its next possession, as Davon Booth sprinted 37 yards for the score.

Although Mesa garnered nearly 100 more passing yards than Cerritos, the Olympians were burned for four interceptions, featuring 99 yards in return yardage, including a 50-yarder by Milo Lopez,

Meanwhile, the Cerritos defense registered a season-best 14 quarterback sacks,– three by Malik Skiffer, and two each from Victor Clanton and Logan Applewhite — resulting in a resounding  96 yards in losses.

For Mesa, Antoine Sullivan registered eight receptions for 123 yards. On the ground, Cael Patterson carried 16 times for 70 yards.

• The Olympians defense saw Jacob Wiggins record an interception. Chris Alba was the top tackler with nine stops, while John Carroll had seven tackles, including six solo efforts.