In the LBCC Vikings’ 50^th meeting with the Cerritos College Falcons (2-1), the Vikings pulled off a defensive victory to shock the state’s 17^th-ranked team at home, coming away with an electrifying 28-24 win that improves their record on the season to 2-1. 

The Vikings had difficulty moving the ball on the ground against the Falcons’ strong run D, and finished with negative three yards rushing on 22 attempts.  Fortunately the passing game fared better, as sophomore quarterback Josh Powell completed 24 of 43 passes, for 291 yards, 2 TDs, and a pick.  One of the scoring throws was to Stephen Burton, the Vikings’ best receiver, who also scored on a run—Burton now has seven TDs in three games.  Leonard Willis, a tall, strong receiver, finished the game with nine catches for 127 yards. 

But it was the Vikings D that carried them to victory, and recaptured the Crosstown Cup, a rivalry trophy the two teams play for each year.  The Vikings forced five fumbles and recovered four, and picked off Falcons QB Jeffery Fletcher—three of the five turnovers came in the second half, and LBCC scored 21 points from them.  The most crucial was a bad snap on a punt which safety Iosefo Mikaele (a Poly grad) scooped up and ran into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown, with just under six minutes in the game left.

After that, Millikan grad Roderick Cohn forced and recovered a fumble to keep the Falcons from scoring.  Another Moore League product, Curtis Johnson at DB, saved the game as well when he tackled Falcons WR Sheldon Smith just short of the first-down marker, at the LBCC 9-yard line on a fourth down play with just seconds left.  That the Vikings would be buoyed by Moore League athletes isn’t surprising, since the team has 40 players from Long Beach, Compton, and Lakewood, but it is a testament to the job they’ve done building their program from local-grown players.

After last week’s disappointing loss in their home opener, LBCC Coach Mike Reisbig said he was sure his team would bounce back from the adversity.  Beating Cerritos, a team who was supposed to win handily, proves him right.  The Vikings will be home again this Saturday, when they host West L.A. at 6pm at Vet’s.