Cooper Leads LBCC Past Fullerton, 24-16 : Freshman Scores 3 Touchdowns; Hornets Plagued by Fumbles

Derrick Cooper scored three touchdowns in the second quarter to lead Long Beach City College to a 24-16 South Coast Conference victory over Fullerton College Saturday night in Fullerton District Stadium.

Cooper, a 5-foot 10-inch freshman, caught scoring passes of 3 and 5 yards from Derek Morgan and ran 5 yards for another touchdown as the Vikings took advantage of a rash of Fullerton fumbles to break open a defensive struggle.

Fullerton led, 3-0, after one quarter thanks to David Becerra 32-yard field goal. But the Hornets lost fumbles at their 5- and 30-yard lines within in a span of 22 seconds midway through the second quarter and Long Beach capitalized on both occasions.

Fullerton (1-3) assembled a 73-yard scoring drive late in the opening half with Richard Williams completing a 10-yard pass to Richard Garcia. But Williams was under heavy pressure the entire night. He was sacked 11 times, including five times in the third quarter.

Long Beach (4-0) snapped a three-game losing streak against the Hornets.

Fullerton attempted to battle back in the third quarter. After an exchange of fumbles, Hornet Andrew Greer turned a potential loss into a scoring play when he shook loose a would-be tackler behind the line of scrimmage, bounced off a couple defenders and sprinted into the end zone for a 27-yard scoring play with 4:37 left in the quarter.

LONG BEACH 24, FULLERTON 16 F--FG Becerra 32

LB--Cooper 3 pass from Morgan (run failed)

LB--Cooper 5 run (pass failed)

LB--Cooper 5 pass from Morgan (kick failed)

F--Garcia 10 pass from Williams (pass failed)

F--Greer 27 run (Reynolds kick)

LB--Brown 2 run (kick failed)

Attendance--3,200 In other conference action:

Orange Coast 22, Grossmont 10: Pirate Coach Bill Workman got his first victory at OCC (1-2, 1-3) as the defense led the way against Grossmont in a Mission Conference game at LeBard Stadium. Quarterback Cary Conway completed 10 of 24 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown in filling in for injured starter Jon Nowotny. Brian Sherrard blocked a Grossmont punt in the third quarter at the Griffin 22 yard line to set up the Pirates’ last touchdown, a 7-yard run by Dave Swigart.

ORANGE COAST 22, GROSSMONT 10 G--Crain 45 pass from Rainer (Turek kick)

G--FG Turek 21

OC--Perkins 44 pass from Conway (Perkins run)

OC--Recktenwald 73 punt return (Greene kick)

OC--Swigart 7 run (Greene kick)

Attendance--3,500