'Gades beaten on final play by Cerritos, 27-21
| Saturday, Nov 06 2010 10:50 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Nov 06 2010 10:57 PM
NORWALK -- Bakersfield College looked set for another dramatic, last-second victory at Cerritos College Saturday night.
Instead it was the Falcons that pulled off an unbelievable, game-winning finish.
Cerritos stunned the Renegades by returning a blocked field goal 97 yards on the final play of the game, snapping a tie and giving the Falcons a 27-21 win that creates a logjam at the top of the National Northern Conference standings.
BC (7-2 overall, 3-1 NNC) had a chance to guarantee at least a co-championship when Josh Gallington lined up for a 47-yard field goal attempt with one second remaining in a 21-21 game.
After Cerritos coach Frank Mazzotta called three straight time outs in an attempt to rattle Gallington, the kick was attempted. Cerritos free safety Keith McGill got the block and the ball rolled toward the goal line.
McGill wasn't finished. Cerritos' Ray Craig picked up the ball at the 3 and raced up field and through many of the BC defenders. Renegade tight end Jared Hood caught Craig at the BC 20, and Craig lateraled the ball to McGill, who was trailing the play. McGill went the final 20 yards into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.
"Do you believe that?" BC coach Jeff Chudy said. "I've never seen a game end on anything like that. They did a good job keeping the play alive. That's the game of football -- crazy."
Craig did not immediately realize McGill was trailing the play.
"I was yelling at him, 'Pass it back. Pass it back,'" McGill said. "I was there. I caught it and I scored."
The game-ending play capped a great comeback by Cerritos, which trailed 21-6 at halftime. The Falcons rushed for 163 yards in the second half and pulled even on a 6-yard TD run by Jaron Hytche with 53 seconds left in the third quarter and a 19-yard run by Craig with 11:12 left. Craig caught a two-point conversion pass that knotted the score.
Cerritos kicker Francisco Rodriguez missed a 40-yard field goal with 3:08 left, and BC took over at its 23. The Renegades drove down to the Falcons' 30 to set up Gallington's final play kick.
"We gave ourselves a chance to win," Chudy said. "I couldn't be prouder of the guys. We've got a lot of guys beat up and we had backups and backups to the backups out there. They left it all on the field."
Special teams play, normally a strength for BC, hurt the Renegades on Saturday. Hytche's score was set up by a 62-yard punt return by Silver Viafanua, and ex-West High standout Dion Curry had an 84-yard punt return for a score nullified by a penalty.
"We're usually rock-solid in that area," Chudy said. "Give them credit."
The NNC has a three-way tie for first place with one week remaining. BC, Cerritos (7-2, 3-1) and the winner of Saturday's Canyons vs. Ventura game are tied. The Canyons-Ventura outcome was not available at deadline.
The Renegades built a 21-6 halftime lead thanks to an effective offense and takeaway defense.
BC, which entered the game at plus-13 in turnover margin, had an interception and two fumble recoveries in the first half. The Renegades scored after two of those takeaways.
After defensive back Tommy Barron picked off Cerritos quarterback Kane Wilson at the BC 9 and returned it to the 24, the Renegades drove 66 yards for the game's first score, a 3-yard run by Andre Smith.
BC made it 14-0 on the second play of the second quarter when quarterback Lyle Negron threaded the needle on a perfectly thrown pass to Smith, who caught it at the 2 and went into the end zone to complete the 22-yard scoring play.
Cerritos defensive back Tyrone Taylor appeared to have a shot at either intercepting or knocking the pass down, but it eluded him by inches and hit Smith in stride.
Cerritos then went 70 yards on seven plays, capped by running back Daveon Barner's 1-yard touchdown. The Falcons opted to go for a two-point conversion run which was stopped short of the goal line, leaving the score 14-6.
Cerritos mounted a drive late in the second quarter, moving from the Falcons' 3 to BC's 41. But on a third-and-11 play, Kane was sacked by BC linebacker Tierney Yates, who stripped the ball loose and outfought two Cerritos players for the recovery at the Falcons' 35.
On the next play, Negron went back to pass, the pocked collapsed and he broke free to his right and cut up field. He was untouched until he ran over free safety McGill at the 2-yard line and muscled into the end zone for a 35-yard TD run. Gallington's kick made it 21-6 with 2:09 left in the half.
Cerritos had another chance when it drove from its own 18 to the BC 25 with about one minute left in the half. But on a fourth-and-1 play, a mixup on a handoff resulted in another fumble and BC's Tevin Jackson recovered to end that threat.
Negron was 8-for-8 in the first half for 97 yards. He finished 17-of-22 for 189 yards.
