No.1 Long Beach Rallies to Defeat Hancock 31-21

The Bulldogs battled the top ranked team in Southern California and led 21-17 to start the fourth quarter, but the Allan Hancock College football team fell 31-21 to Long Beach City College on Saturday afternoon at Righetti High School.

The Bulldogs, who were outscored 14-0 in the fourth quarter and were stymied on a fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line, dropped to 2-3 on the season. The Vikings improved to 6-0 overall.

Hancock stormed out to a 14-0 lead in the first half after capitalizing on two Long Beach turnovers. Logan Sprouse stripped USC-bound wide receiver De'Quan Hampton after a 16-yard gain. The Bulldogs turned that into a 71-yard drive capped by a three-yard touchdown run by quarterback Curry Parham. Hancock carried that 7-0 lead into the second quarter when freshman defensive lineman Ethan Allen recovered his second fumble of the game, the second was at the Long Beach 34-yard line. The Vikings' third turnover of the game resulted in a two-yard touchdown run by Lauina Futi, a freshman out of American Samoa, to give Hancock a 14-0 lead. Parham, a St. Joseph High School graduate, added a 34-yard run to aid the scoring drive. 

The Bulldog defense shut down Long Beach's state-leading offense, but the defense gave the Vikings a boost when Matthew Rowe intercepted a Parham pass at the Long Beach 46 and returned it to the Hancock five-yard line. Quarterback Brock Dale scored on a five-yard run to make it at 14-7 Hancock lead. The Bulldogs forced Long Beach to punt with two minutes to play, but Hancock fumbled a fair catch punt at its own 19 that led to a game-tying seven-yard touchdown pass from Dale to Jeremy Dale.

With the game tied 14-14 to start the second half, Hancock strung together a methodical drive that ended with a two-yard TD run by D'Anthony Wade to take a 21-14 lead with 7:54 to play in the third quarter. Long Beach responded by outscoring Hancock 17-0 the rest of the way 

The Vikings kicked a field goal late in the third quarter to make it a 21-17 Hancock advantage to start the fourth quarter.  Royce Moore scored on a two-yard plunge at the 12:33 mark of the fourth quarter to give Long Beach its first lead of the game 24-21.

The Bulldogs had a chance to regain the lead on their next possession. But the Vikings stopped Parham on a quarterback keeper on fourth down from the Long Beach one-yard line to take over on downs. The Vikings put the game away with a 99-yard scoring drive with Moore running in the last five yards to make it a 31-21 game.

The Vikings had 27 first downs to Hancock's 18 and racked up 453 total yards of offense to 266 from the Bulldogs. The Vikings had three fumbles, while the Bulldogs had one.

Parham completed 11 of his 20 passes for 88 yards and one interception. The freshman also rushed for 25 yards and one score on 12 carries. Wesley Williams, a freshman out of St. Joseph High School, led the Bulldogs with 55 yards on just eight attempts, including a 25-yard gain.  Jaylin Amerson added 53 yards on 14 carries, while Futi had 37 yards on 16 attempts, including a score. Ryan Mediano and Breon Briggs led the Bulldogs with three receptions apiece. Mediano had 31 receiving yards and Briggs had 23. The Bulldogs played a majority of the game with their leading receiver, Tristen Jeffries, who suffered a hip injury in the first half.

Dale completed 16 of his 34 passes for 234 yards and one touchdown. Moore led the Vikings with 78 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.  Anterio Bateman added 66 yards on 14 carries, while Dale finished with 52 yards on 11 attempts. Hampton led the Vikings with five catches for 75 yards. 

Defensively, Deonte Barnes led the Bulldogs with 15 tackles. Rafael Arellano added nine. Freshman Isaiah Hill had eight tackles, including one sack and 2.5 tackles for lost yardage. Sprouse had seven tackles, forced and recovered one fumble and broke up three passes.

The Bulldogs return to conference action next Saturday at Cerritos (4-2), who defeated El Camino 29-26 on Saturday.