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No. 12 Hancock Football Drops 20-17 Heartbreaker on Last Second Field Goal at No. 2 Long Beach

No. 12 Hancock Football Drops 20-17 Heartbreaker on Last Second Field Goal at No. 2 Long Beach

Sergio Garcia's 19-yard field goal as time expired sank the upset bid by the Allan Hancock College football team at Long Beach City College on Saturday. The Vikings remained undefeated and improved to 6-0 after their 20-17 come-from-behind win over the Bulldogs. Hancock fell to 3-2 overall after its final non-conference game of the season.

The Bulldogs stormed out to a 17-0 lead in the second quarter. Malik Williams returned the opening kickoff 63 yards to allow Hancock to start its first drive of the game at the LBCC 35-yard line. Five plays later, Bakari Davis scored on a 13-yard touchdown to give Hancock a 7-0 lead barely three minutes into the game.

The Hancock defense forced the Vikings to punt on their first three possessions of the game. Hancock doubled its lead when Williams jumped over the defensive line and into the endzone for a four-yard touchdown to put the Bulldogs ahead 14-0 with less than a minute to play in the first quarter. The Bulldogs made it a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter on a 29-yard field goal from Jose Morales. The field goal was set up by a 39-yard punt return by Williams to the LBCC 17-yard line.

The Vikings got on the board on their next possession as quarterback Jack Lowary connected with Jacob Welch for a 44-yard strike to make it 17-7 Bulldogs. Hancock remained on top by 10 points until midway through the third quarter when Deonte Dixon capped a 69-yard drive with a one-yard rushing touchdown that made it 17-14 with 3:49 to play in the third quarter.

LBCC tied the game at 17-17 early in the fourth quarter on a 25-yard field goal from Garcia. On their next possession, the Bulldogs moved 47 yards down to the LBB 27-yard line. However, LBCC's Kiante Goudeau blocked Morales' 44-yard field goal attempt to keep the game tied 17-17.

The Bulldogs regained possession with less than four minutes to play in the game, but Williams fumbled the ball on a carry on a hit by Gave Medrano and Marcus Reynolds recovered the fumble at the Hancock 30-yard line with 3:01 to play. Hancock's only turnover of the game proved to be costly. Long Beach used up the rest of the game clock and marched 30 yards over eight plays that ended with Garcia's 19-yard game-winning field goal.

The Bulldogs finished with 128 yards rushing led by Williams, who had 91 yards on 23 carries and one touchdown. Davis had 22 yards on two carries, including the 13-yard score. Hancock quarterback Curry Parham completed seven of his 22 passes for 80 yards. His top receiver was Tristan Gilford, who had three receptions for 27 yards, while Williams hauled in two passes for 29 yards.  Williams, a freshman, also had a total of 116 yards on five kickoff and punt returns.

Defensively, Gregory Artis-Payne led the Bulldogs with 10 tackles. Rafael Arellano had eight tackles, including two tackles for loss. Sophomore Kevon Perry had two tackles for loss. Perry and David Lopez had 0.5 a sack, while Isaiah Hill and Marquice Paige had one sack apiece. Elijah Holt and Davis broke up three passes each.

Lowary completed 26 of his 50 passes for 287 yards and one touchdown. The Hancock defensive limited LBCC to a total of one yard rushing. Tyree Harris had 32 yards on the ground on 11 carries. Mike Wilson had eight receptions for 143 yards, including a key 30-yard catch on fourth down with 13 yards to extend the game-winning drive.  Welch added seven catches for 86 yards and one touchdown.

The Bulldogs return home for a conference game against Cerritos College. No. 7 Cerritos defeated El Camino 40-38 to improve to 5-1 overall.