COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOOTBALL ROUNDUP : Saddleback Can’t Finish What It Started

Bill Cunerty’s first game as head coach at Saddleback left him, his staff and players exasperated.

The Gauchos rallied to score 21 points in a row to take a late lead, only to lose, 35-31, to host Long Beach in a nonconference game Saturday at Veterans Stadium.

Saddleback led, 10-7, at the half, but Long Beach brought in Neo Aoga at quarterback. Aoga, who had six touchdown passes Sept. 9 against Golden West, sat out the first half because of a sore ankle.

He led Long Beach (2-0) to three touchdowns, all passes to Joe Johnson, in his first three series as the Vikings built a 28-10 lead with 14 minutes 46 seconds left to play.

But Saddleback showed some life when Jeff Carr completed an 18-yard scoring pass to Adam Roman with 10:45 to play.

The Gauchos scored again, on Josh Payseno’s four-yard run with 6:13 left, to cut the lead to 28-23.

After the Saddleback defense held Long Beach to three plays and a short punt, the Gauchos got the ball at the Long Beach 34 with 3:30 left. On the second play, Carr threw a 30-yard scoring pass to Jackie Conners with 2:44 to go. After the two-point conversion, Saddleback led, 31-28. Conners had nine catches for 211 yards and two touchdowns.

But after a short kickoff, Long Beach started at its own 42. At the Saddleback 33, Aoga fought off a Saddleback tackler and threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Johnson, who beat two defenders in the end zone for the ball. The touchdown gave Long Beach a 35-31 lead with 2:01 left.

Saddleback had two more chances, but each drive was stopped with linebacker Albert Dorsey intercepting a pass.

“I’m so disappointed,” Cunerty said. “I thought our kids really played their hearts out. The thing I’m most proud of was the way they stayed in there and battled.”

Carr, playing in place of Justin Vedder, who hurt his shoulder early in the third quarter, was 11 of 17 for 159 yards. Vedder was 17 of 30 for 209.

In other games:

Golden West 24, Pasadena 17--Brian Schneider threw for 221 yards and a touchdown as Golden West won for the first time under new head Coach Dennis Dixon.

Wesley Morris caught eight passes for 125 yards, including the touchdown pass from Schneider.

In the second half, Schneider completed 13 of 26 passes for 147 yards on two third-quarter scoring drives to build a 24-7 lead for Golden West (1-1, 1-1).

Pasadena (1-1, 1-1) had a shot to tie near the end of the game, but fumbled at Golden West’s 15-yard line with 3:48 remaining.

Cerritos 28, Orange Coast 14--Orange Coast made a late run, but could not overcome seven turnovers or Cerritos’ 28-0 lead.