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After being down 8-7 early in the first quarter, PCC’s football squad exploded for 47 unanswered points on Sept. 29 to wallop highly ranked Palomar College 54-7.
With the win the Lancers (5-0) find themselves on top of the Mission Football Conference’s standings as the only remaining undefeated team.The Lancers seemed to outmatch the Comets (4-1) athletically, with their big play offense springing 13 plays exceeding 20 yards. Sophomore quarterback David Pittman started the onslaught when he arched a deep pass over the Comet secondary to wide receiver Marcus Anderson for an 86 yard touchdown midway through the first quarter.

The big play set the stage for more to come.

“After the first pass to Anderson, we knew we could go deep,” said Head Coach Kenny Lawler. “We try to get our athletes in space.”

Later in the first quarter Pittman hit standout sophomore receiver David Reed on another deep route for an 87 yard score.

Pittman passed for 481 yards and six touchdowns, both school records, on 28 of 38 passing and was named offensive Mission Football Conference Player of the Week. Pittman left early once the rout was on, being replaced by backup Mike Nicholas.

Both big play receivers had huge days. Reed finished with eight receptions and two touchdowns along with 196 yards receiving and Anderson brought in seven receptions for 166 yards and two touchdowns. The rest of the offense didn’t slack, with 205 yards rushing and 736 yards of total offense.

Although Pittman and the offense had a record-setting day, the defense continued their dominance. The Lancer defense held the Comets to 200 total yards and five turnovers.

Cornerback Terrell Carr had two interceptions and returned a recovered fumble for 44 yards for a touchdown. Carr was named defensive Mission Football Conference Player of the Week.

Palomar has had a tough run of injuries recently and lost starting quarterback Hunter Wanket, plus two running backs, in their loss to the Lancers. Wanket left the game late in the second quarter with a shoulder injury after passing for only 56 yards while throwing two interceptions.

Wanket was replaced by much less mobile backup Joey Erickson, who did not fare much better. Erickson threw for only 35 yards with two interceptions, while being sacked on 4 occasions.

“We expected our toughest test,” Lawler said, “but the scoreboard speaks for itself.”

After last week’s improvement on penalties, the Lancers at times seemed undisciplined, racking up multiple unsportsmanlike penalties as well as others that negated big plays. The Lancers finished with 16 penalties, for a total of 165 yards. Palomar also had penalty problems, committing 13 penalties for 120 yards.
“Penalties are a concern,” Lawler said. “In a close game they could be important.”

The kicking game is still an issue for the Lancers, with kicker Gabe Tuata often struggling to get the ball to the 20-yard line on kickoffs and missing extra points. The Lancers also had Pittman drop back to make punt attempts.

Pasadena is now ranked third in the region according to the COA/CCCFCA Regional Football Polls.

The Lancers take their undefeated record into a bye week, but return to Robinson Stadium for their Mission Football Conference National Division opening game against Mount San Antonio on October 13th.

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