The Lancers football team stay ahead of the region’s No. 2 ranked College of the Canyons for most of Saturday night’s game. But with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Cougars rallied and managed to pull ahead, beating the Lancers 28-24 in the SCFA NNC Opener.
The loss left the Lancers at 0-4 on the season, extending their losing streak to 10 games dating back to last season.
Despite the loss, the Lancers managed to hold onto the lead throughout most of the game in spite of playing without several top players, including regular freshman starting quarterback Jett Even, kicker Kareem Zeenni and receiver Adrian Fonoimoana-Hall. Even was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of robbery and assault.
Still, the Lancers came out strong. During the first quarter managed to gain a seven point lead thanks in part to running back Justin Carroll who scored a touchdown ten minutes into the game.
“We’re going to put a few points on this board and we’re going to be the winner,” said Carroll.
And for a while the Lancers did manage to pull ahead.
The Cougars were quick to regroup though. Canyon running back Kenny Torrence managed to rush for a 38 yard touchdown and by the end of the second quarter, the Cougars were down by a touchdown. Canyon quarterback Devon Dunn then tied the game at 14-14 with a rushing touchdown of his own.
Pasadena managed to break the tie with two scores in the fourth quarter, but Dunn sent a 63-yard touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Nicholas Jones. Later, at the 3:35 mark, linebacker Paul Puebla intercepted a pass and returned it for the decisive touchdown.
“Again it goes back, we just got to clean up some of the mistakes,” said Kaumeyer. “We drop a punt, we fumble a ball on our own end. Those types of things.”
According to Kaumeyer though, the Lancers played well against a team ranked No.13 nationally. The head coach also had a few words for wingback Marc Peart who completed 19 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns.
“[Peart] is our backup guy and he played a wonderful game,” said Kaumeyer.
Instead of being dismayed at the loss, the Lancers are taking it as a sign that they can go head-to-head with top tier teams.
“They came in 3-0 and we came in 0-3 and they thought they were just going to beat us out the way like nothing,” said defensive lineman Kyle Alvarez. “And we came out strong.”
The Lancers will face another conference team this Saturday as they head to Cerritos to face the Cerritos College Falcons. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
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