COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOOTBALL ROUNDUP : New Team but Familiar Outcome for Fullerton Coach

Gene Murphy’s return to football coaching might have seemed a bit like old times.

The last time Murphy walked the sideline in Veterans Stadium, in 1990, Cal State Long Beach beat Cal State Fullerton on a last-second field goal. Saturday night, the realization of defeat didn’t come quite so suddenly as Long Beach City held off a Fullerton College rally to win a Mission Conference game, 28-14.

After 13 years at Cal State Fullerton, Murphy has taken over a team that won one game last season, its worst record in history.

Fullerton’s Jim Sebreros, a freshman from Garden Grove, rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown in 18 carries and sophomore quarterback Josh Nelson completed 25 of 40 passes for 265 yards and a touchdown.

Three second-half turnovers and a failed fourth-down attempt proved costly, however.

Trailing, 21-14, with 2 minutes 52 seconds remaining, Fullerton (0-1) had a fourth-and-four situation at the Long Beach 32. Nelson completed a pass over the middle to Ryan Roskelly (10 receptions, 116 yards) for no gain.

Fullerton got the ball back with 1:41 left, but Nelson’s first pass was intercepted by Junior Faupusa and returned 44 yards for a touchdown.

The Hornet defense, which was porous in the first half, held Long Beach running back Kevin McKenzie to only 15 of his 163 yards in the second half.