The562’s coverage of Vikings athletics is sponsored in part by Long Beach City College.
For a quarter it looked like the Long Beach City College football team was on its way to its first win with first-year coach Marques Cooper. But, with some turnovers and untimely miscues the Vikings lost to Mt. San Jacinto 52-20 Saturday afternoon.
“We have to take advantage of the plays that we have early in the game, so we don’t put ourselves in a hole,” LBCC coach Marques Cooper said.
The Vikings (0-2) got off to a start any team would want. After Mt. San Jacinto received the opening kickoff, LBCC forced a fumble and recovered it to put the offense in a perfect place to strike with a short field.
Devin Samples then rushed for an 8-yard gain and three plays later Wyatt McCauley connected with Owen Tomich for a 5-yard touchdown to give the Vikings a 7-0 lead with 12:55 left in the first.
However, both teams defense started to get pressure as the next seven drive resulted in a combined 10 yards. That sequence included a botched snap for the Vikings that put the Eagles at the LBCC 5-yard line, they were able to force a turnover on downs.
Working from their own end zone another fumble on the snap resulted in a touchdown when Ifeanye Onye recovered the ball to give Mt. San Jacinto a 7-6 lead with 46 second remaining in the first.
LBCC looked like they were starting to break through in the second as they got a strip sack and Joel Rayas scooped and scores, but a flag was thrown against the Vikings that resulted in a first down for Mt. San Jacinto which negated the touchdown that would have extended the Vikings lead.
The Eagles (1-1) didn’t waste the second opportunity as Cole Vasquez connected to Jackson Weng for 18 yards but after a LBCC personal foul the Vikings got a first down at the Long Beach 24-yard line.
Mt. San Jacinto took their first lead after Julian Silva found Weng for a 9-yard touchdown to take a 12-7 lead.
McCauley wasted no time connecting with his top target of the night as he found a streaking Tomich for a 64-yard catch and run touchdown that gave LBCC a 13-12 lead. McCaulley threw for 248 yards and three touchdowns and two interceptions, while Tomich had 8 catches for 176 yards and three touchdowns.
The Vikings defense came up with another big stop they forced Silva to fumble on the ensuing drive. With the ball at midfield, the Vikings weren’t able to move the ball and were forced to punt, but on the snap the ball was mishandled and after the punter kicked the ball out of the end zone – the Vikings were charged with an illegal kick call and Mt. San Jacinto accepted the penalty and got the ball at the LBCC 1-yard line.
William Ford scored and the Eagles took a 18-13 after a missed two-point conversion.
That was the start of a 40-7 run for Mt. San Jacinto as Silva finished the game with 163 yards and 3 touchdowns.
“It’s going to come down to reps,” Cooper said after he scrambled to put his team together and put a system in place over the last two months. “There’s these guys getting rep and game after game they will just continue to get better.”
The Vikings will be back at Vets next Saturday when they take on Allan Hancock.
