Lankford, Cecchi and Defense Lead Bulldogs to Third Straight Win, Hancock Squeezes Citrus 30-16

Jajuan Lankford and Alex Cecchi both rushed for more than 100 yards and one touchdown, and the defense allowed no points in the second half as the Allan Hancock College football team ended the season with a 30-16 win over Citrus College on Saturday. The Bulldogs finished the season on a three-game winning streak to end at 5-5 overall and 3-2 in American Pacific League. Hancock finished in a three-way tie for second in the standings with Santa Barbara and Antelope Valley. Citrus finished 1-4 in league and 4-6 on the season.

Citrus built an early 9-0 lead on a safety and a 17-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brian Meyette to Devin Floyd with 8:22 to play in the opening quarter. The Bulldogs responded with a 14-yard touchdown run from Kevin Stark, and a 42-yard touchdown strike from Matt Albright to Kevin Marion to put Hancock ahead 14-9 early in the second quarter. The Owls regained the lead 16-14 with a three-yard scoring run by Abel Morales with 7:23 to play in the half.

Hancock took the lead for good with less than two minutes to play in the half when Lankford ran it in the end zone from four yards to cap a 12-play, 77-yard drive.

The Hancock defense held the Owls scoreless the entire second half, and the final 37:23 of the game. The Bulldogs got back on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter when Elliot Bourke converted a 30-yard field goal with 9:03 to play. Cecchi put the game on ice with a three-yard touchdown run with 1:03 to play to put Hancock ahead 30-16.

The Bulldogs finished with 32 first downs to Citrus' 18. Hancock compiled 479 yards of total offense to Citrus' 265. Once again the Hancock defense shutdown the opponent's ground game, allowing just 71 rushing yards. The Bulldogs gained 313 yards on the ground. Lankford rushed for 166 yards on 24 carries and one touchdown, his ninth touchdown run of the season. Cecchi had 104 yards rushing on 22 carries and one score. Stark had 26 yards rushing on four carries.

Albright completed 10 of his 23 passes for 166 yards. He threw one touchdown pass, his 17^th of the season, and threw one interception. Chris Barganier caught six passes for 98 yards. Marion had three catches for 57 yards and one touchdown catch.

Defensively, Benjamin Willkomm, a freshman safety, led the Bulldogs with 11 tackles. Sophomore linebacker Easton Coy had nine stops, including six solo tackles. Osa Omokaro had two sacks to finish with a league-best 10 sacks on the year. Anthony Miller, Thomas Leggett and Eugene Johnson were each credited with one sack.