COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOOTBALL ROUNDUP : Saddleback Rallies, but Falls Short

Saddleback put on an impressive second-half rally only to lose, 21-20, to Long Beach in a Mission Conference game Saturday in Mission Viejo.

The Gauchos trailed, 21-7, as Long Beach dominated with its ground game. Patrick Norris had a career-high 275 yards in 29 carries, including a 67-yard touchdown run in the first half.

Still, Saddleback (0-1) had a chance to win with about a minute left.

The Gauchos pulled within a point, 21-20, when quarterback Aron Garcia completed a 21-yard touchdown pass to Jackie Conners. Conners went high to grab the ball over a Long Beach defender with 1 minute 3 seconds left.

Saddleback Coach Ken Swearingen didn’t hesitate in going for two. But Garcia’s pass was intercepted on the goal line by Jake Beeney after it was deflected.

Long Beach recovered Saddleback’s onside kick and ran out the clock.

“What does 21-21 give us?” Swearingen said. “We were going for it all the way.”

Garcia was most impressive on the final drive, completing three fourth-down passes, all for first downs. He was 21 of 37 with three interceptions for 171 yards.

Saddleback’s defense was solid much of the game except for its occasional poor tackling of Norris.

James Ligons and Scott Patton each had two interceptions and Erick Fielding had another, but the biggest turnover of the game was a fourth-quarter fumble.

Long Beach quarterback Neo Aoga was scrambling around the left end when he was hit from behind by linebacker Tony Pellicer, knocking the ball loose. It was recovered at the Long Beach 49 by lineman Dan West with 4:49 left.

The play came 2:24 after Saddleback had scored on a 10-yard pass from Garcia to Adrian Brown to cut the lead to 21-14.

That drive was keyed by a roughing-the-punter call that gave Saddleback a first down.

Saddleback’s Garcia had scored on a one-yard drive with 12:37 left in the second quarter to tie it, 7-7. Long Beach went ahead, 14-7, on a one-yard run by Kevin McKenzie with 4:15 left in the half.

Long Beach (2-0) scored again when McKenzie scored on a six-yard run around right end with 30 seconds left in the half.

The touchdown stung the Gauchos, who appeared to have stopped the drive two plays before. Saddleback’s Morgan Bannister intercepted a pass in the end zone, but the Gauchos were called for pass interference.

In other Mission Conference games:

Cerritos 35, Orange Coast 31--Jeff Clayton rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns and Matt Sauk threw for 199 yards and two touchdowns at Cerritos.

Trailing, 7-0, Clayton scored the first of his two touchdowns on a one-yard run, but Orange Coast missed the point after and trailed, 7-6.

Clayton scored again on a 29-yard run in the second quarter to tie the score, 14-14.

After falling behind, 31-14, Sauk connected with Chris Jackson for touchdowns of 58 and seven yards in the third quarter, pulling the Pirates to within seven points, 35-28.

Golden West 35, Pasadena 35--Golden West scored two touchdowns in the last four minutes, including a two-yard pass from Brian Schneider to Brian Gail with 1 minute 40 seconds left. The two also connected on a two-point conversion to tie the score.

Pasadena attempted a 32-yard field goal with 13 seconds left, but the kick was wide left.

Schneider completed 31 of 51 passes for 354 yards and three touchdowns.

Golden West had the ball inside Pasadena’s 1 with 7:11 left trailing, 28-21, but Mark Crowley fumbled and Pasadena’s Daniel Stewart recovered and returned it 69 yards, leading to Pasadena’s last touchdown.