The game lived up to the hype.
In a battle of nationally-ranked unbeaten football squads, No. 8 Long Beach City College pulled off a 41-38 come-from-behind win over No. 2 Mt. San Antonio College on Saturday night in front of a big crowd at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Long Beach is 5-0 for the first time since 1998 and now leads the SCFA Central League standings with a 2-0 mark. The victory also snapped the Vikings' three-game losing streak against the Mounties.
The Vikings led 26-14 at halftime after holding the Mounties scoreless in the second quarter. Mt. SAC would rally in the third to retake the lead before Long Beach and backup quarterback Brock Dale (Lakewood HS) would put together a pair of scoring drives late in the fourth to pull out the victory.
Mt. SAC scored 24 unanswered points to start the second half. Sitiveni Tamaivena picked off Dale's pass and ran it back 49 yards for a touchdown to get the Mounties going. Quarterback Justin Alo capped a seven-play, seven-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run and Alberto Villareal kicked a 34-yard field goal to give Mt. SAC a 31-26 lead after three quarters.
Alo added a 20-yard touchdown run at the 12:59 mark in the fourth to give the Mounties a commanding 38-26 advantage.
After a quick three-play drive, Long Beach was forced to punt and gave the ball back to the Mounties with 12:08 to play. But the LBCC defense finally came alive and held Mt. SAC to just three plays and forced a punt as well.
Down by 12 points at the 10:24 mark, the Vikings put together their first scoring drive since the second quarter. Long Beach converted three third-downs on its way to the touchdown. Facing third down and 15 yards to go, Dale scrambled for 16 yards to the LBCC 48-yard line to keep the drive alive. Moments later, Dale snuck in from one yard out to cap the 13-yard drive and cut the Mounties' lead to 38-33 with 6:13 to play.
On the ensuing drive, the Long Beach defense once again held steady and after six plays, forced Mt. SAC to punt the ball away.
Dale and the Vikings had the ball back on their own 40-yard line with 2:57 left in the game, setting up the heroic final touchdown drive.
Dale opened the drive completing his first three passes, including a 13-yard strike to sophomoreDe'Quan Hampton (Dominguez HS) that put the ball on the Mt. SAC 30-yard line, followed by a personal foul by the Mounties that advanced the ball to the 15-yard line. Dale then dumped the ball off to freshman Anterio Bateman (Serra HS) on a short pass that he was able to run in for the go-ahead touchdown with just 1:39 to go.
Now trailing by three points, Mt. SAC drove down the field and set up for a desperation 48-yard field goal attempt by Villareal. But the kicked was blocked by freshman Kiante Goudeau (Edison HS) and recovered by the Vikings at their own 14-yard line to seal the victory and complete the upset.
Long Beach dominated the first half and racked up over 400 yards by the break. Bateman's five-yard TD run in the first tied the game at 7, while sophomore Kenny Potter's (San Pedro HS) 78-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Josiah Blandin (Poly HS) once again tied the score at 14. Freshman Alfredo Solis (Paramount HS) hit a pair of 41-yard field goals and Potter ran in from five-yards out to give the Vikings their 26-14 halftime lead.
For the game, Long Beach totaled 592 total offensive yards on one of the state's top defenses. Potter and Dale combined for a season-high 389 passing yards. Potter completed 21 of 40 passes for 292 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Dale connected on nine of 15 passes for 97 yards with a touchdown and interception.
In just his second game of the season, Blandin caught seven passes for 152 yards with a TD while Hampton hauled in eight receptions for 86 yards.
Bateman proved to be an all-around threat once again, scoring a pair of touchdowns. He ran 15 times for 85 yards, caught six passes for 57 yards and totaled 36 returns yards.
On defense, freshmen Christian Woo (Mayfair HS) and Jason Fao (Poly HS) led the Vikings with eight tackles. Woo also broke up a pair of passes.
Long Beach will look to continue its unbeaten run when it travels to Allan Hancock College for a 4 pm non-league game next Saturday (Oct. 11) at Righetti High School in Santa Maria.
