Hancock Football Looks To Get Back On Track Saturday At Pasadena

The Allan Hancock College football team will hit the road trying to snap a three-game losing skid. The Bulldogs (1-2, 3-4) dropped out of the state's top 25 teams for the first time in more than one month. Hancock travels to Pasadena City College (0-4, 1-7) for a 4 p.m. game on Saturday, October 31.

Last Time Out for Hancock: Last Saturday, the Bulldogs dropped a 42-24 home game to College of the Canyons, the sixth ranked team in California.  The Cougars scored the first 14 points of the game within the first seven minutes to take command of the game. The Bulldogs answered back with a 12-yard touchdown run by Justin Banks, and a 34-yard field goal from Jose Morales (Lompoc HS) to climb to within 14-10 late in the first quarter. However, Canyons outscored Hancock 14-0 in the second quarter to take a 28-10 lead into halftime.

The Bulldogs finished with 256 yards rushing, led by quarterback Curry Parham (St. Joseph HS) who ran for 68 yards on five carries, including a 58-yard run, the longest of the season by a Bulldog. He scored a seven-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. The sophomore also completed seven of his 13 passes for 64 yards. Banks finished with 62 yards rushing on 11 carries and one score, Jericho Worrell had 57 yards rushing on 10 carries, and Bakari Davis had 41 yards on the ground on five carries, including a 35-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Sophomore defensive end Kevon Perry led the Bulldogs with 13 tackles and two tackles for loss. Freshman linebacker Greg Artis-Payne tallied nine tackles, while Davis and Isaiah Hill (Pioneer Valley) had nine stops apiece. Hill recorded three tackles for loss and broke up one pass.

The Bulldogs were forced to play without four starters the entire game: safety Rafael Arellano (Lompoc HS), offensive lineman Sam Wellmaker (Lompoc HS), defensive back Malik Pope (Righetti HS), and Malik Williams, the state's leader in all-purpose yards per game.  

A Look at the Numbers:  

Morales, an All-Conference First Team selection as a freshman, leads the conference and ranks sixth in the state with nine field goals. He sits eighth among all kickers in California with 49 total points. The Lompoc High School's yards per punt average is 37.8 yards, which ranks 23^rd in the state.

Perry had two tackles for loss against Canyons to raise his state-leading total to 20.5 tackles for loss on the season. The sophomore also ranks 23^rd in the state with 56 total tackles. Hancock's Artis-Payne is tied for 21^st in the state with 57 total tackles.

Davis, a sophomore defensive back, has broken up 11 passes this season, which leads the conference and ranks sixth in the state. Elijah Holt (Arroyo Grande HS) has three interceptions this season, which is tied for 19^th in the state. The Arroyo Grande High School graduate's nine pass breakups rank 13^th.  He is also tied for the state lead with two punts returned for touchdowns.

As a team, Hancock ranks second in the state with an average of 19.2 yards per punt return, 15^th with an average of 184 yards rushing per game, and ninth with 18 rushing touchdowns. The Bulldogs are +9 in the turnover category with seven lost fumbles, seven interceptions and nine fumble recoveries.

On the flip side, Hancock sits 65^th out of the 69 teams in the state with a third down conversion rate of 23 percent.

Pasadena City College: The Lancers are 0-4 in conference and 1-7 overall. Pasadena is coming off a 52-26 loss at home to Moorpark. Pasadena led 20-17 at halftime, but was outscored 35-6 in the second half. Moorpark won despite four turnovers.  Pasadena quarterback Jett Even threw for 219 yards and three touchdown passes. He completed 22 of his 42 passes. DaiCorri Briscoe led the team with 58 receiving yards on four catches and one touchdown, while Trensten Spragling had six catches for 37 yards to go with a 48-yard kickoff return. The Pasadena offensive line allowed seven sacks, while the defense allowed 303 yards rushing.

Even has completed 54 percent of his passes this season and thrown for 1,657 yards. He has 13 touchdown passes and nine interceptions. Justin Carroll leads the team with 289 rushing yards on 94 carries and two touchdowns. He's averaging 3.1 yards per carry. Spragling has 204 rushing yards on 55 carries and two touchdowns with an average of 3.7 yards per carry. Ricky Blair leads the team with 37 receptions for 474 yards and five touchdown catches.

Defensively, linebacker Jayln Williams leads the team with 83 total tackles to go with two sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. Defensive lineman Jaren Jackson leads the team with 7.5 sacks and 16.5 tackles for loss. Kyle Alvarez has seven tackles for loss and three sacks. Sophomore defensive back Evan Alexander has 38 tackles and three interceptions, while Kendell Jefferson and Robert Morgan have two apiece.

Pasadena started the season by dropping its first five games, 31-23 at El Camino, 51-0 to Grossmont, 24-23 at LA Harbor, 28-24 to College of the Canyons and 33-0 at Cerritos. The Lancers defeated East Los Angeles 27-16, but followed that up with a 62-31 loss at Ventura and 26-point loss to Moorpark.

History with Pasadena: The Bulldogs lead the all-time series with the Lancers 5-2. Last year, Hancock defeated Pasadena 52-14 in Santa Maria to avenge a 19-17 loss in Pasadena the previous year.

Live Webcast: Hancock will stream a live broadcast of Saturday's game. The live webcast can be viewed by clicking on WATCH LIVE button at athletics.hancockcollege.edu.