Late Heroics Not Enough In Football's AML-Opening OT Defeat

Heavy rain, winds and lightning pushed back the start of Saturday's SCFA American Mountain League opener by an hour to 7 p.m.. The Pasadena City College football team and host College of the Desert then battled it out deep into the night before the Roadrunners prevailed in overtime, 34-27.

The Lancers, the defending tri-champs of the AML with Mt. San Jacinto and Grossmont, dropped to 3-3 overall. Desert upped its record to 5-1 in a game that featured seven lead changes and took 3 hours, 40 minutes plus an extra session to finish. 

With 2:54 left in the fourth quarter, PCC took a 20-19 lead on kicker Justin Vergara's clutch 39-yard field goal (his second of the game) in a light rain. Desert roared back on a 22-yard TD pass from quarterback Cesar Vela to receiver Donald Johnson. Vela's 2-point conversion pass to Justin Murray gave the Roadrunners a 27-20 advantage with just 1:28 remaining. 

PCC quarterback Joshua Andrade, a 6-foot, 175-pound freshman from Las Vegas who was making his collegiate debut, then marched the Lancers on a thrilling, 10-play, 60-yard drive. Andrade completed 5-of-8 passes for 55 yards in the series, including a 19-yard strike up the middle to slot receiver Ivan Ostry that brought the ball to the Desert 1. With just one second left in regulation, Andrade tossed a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cameron Woods. Vergara's ensuing extra point kick tied things and sent the game to overtime. 

Desert took just two plays in OT to score the game-winning points on a 17-yard TD throw by Vela to Ty Hershberger. PCC's luck ran out on the next possession as the COD defense pressured Andrade into a sack and three incompletions that sealed the Desert victory.

It was great night for Ostry, who totaled 192 all-purpose yards, leading the Lancers receivers on six catches for 75 yards and returning a kickoff 85 yards for TD that gave PCC a 10-3 lead in the second quarter. Early in the second quarter, Ostry secured a kick return from the COD 15 and then cut down the near sideline untouched for a 10-3 PCC lead. 

Late in the third quarter, PCC grabbed a 17-12 lead on a screen pass by Andrade to running back Juaquin Elliott out of the backfield for an 18-yard TD.

Andrade, who split QB time for the first three quarters with Jakob Doolittle, completed 16 of 38 passes for 179 yards, two TDs and one interception. He ran for 44 yards in seven carries (netted 29 due to three sacks) and seemed to spark the squad on a number of his series. Isaac Glover led the ground game with a net 44 yards in seven attempts. 

It was a banner evening for Vergara, who drilled a 37-yard field goal for an early 3-0 PCC lead and was perfect on two FG attempts and three extra point kicks for nine points. He regained punting duties this week and had three punts for a 36-yard average including a 41-yarder that went out at the Desert 3.

Tight end Isaiah Smalls added five receptions for 63 yards and Elliott totaled 92 all-purpose yards in rushing, receiving, and returns. 

The defense had several big plays, led by safety Osvaldo Raigosa, who totaled a team-high 12 tackles and added a 36-yard interception return on the first play of the second quarter. Outside linebacker Jaylon McGee contributed seven tackles and three quarterback hurries, inside LB Jordan Monroe five tackles and two hurries, safety Roland "Kea" Rodrigues six tackles and a pass breakup, and cornerback Noah Schwartz five tackles and two breakups.

PCC couldn't contain Desert's talented quarterback Cesar Vela, who completed 23 of 42 passes for 264 yards (two TDs), and rushed 13 times for 113 yards and an additional touchdown.

Next Saturday, Oct. 22, the Lancers return to Robinson Stadium for a 6 p.m. AML game v. Grossmont. Mt. San Jacinto handed the Griffins (2-4 overall) a 35-10 defeat on Saturday. 

PCC GRIDIRON NOTES: It was the first overtime game by the Lancers since a 23-17 OT loss at Moorpark in 2014...For the second time in two years, the "Battle of the Arts" was represented well with PCC lineman Michelangelo Loretto making five tackles and a sack while Desert's Tschaikowsky Brown picking up three tackles and a breakup...Ostry is seventh in the state in kick return yards average (28.8), ninth in kick return yards (346 in 12 attempts), and ninth in the SCFA in all-purpose yards per game (106.7). Ostry's kick return TD was the first by a Lancer since last year's meeting v. Desert when Justen Campbell ran back a kick 89 yards for six points...Ostry took over the PCC lead in receptions with 19...Andrade's entrance into the PCC lineup came as a result of a season-ending injury to Anthony Arnou (58-for-98, 620 yards) during PCC's win v. Moorpark on Sept. 30...Devon Mayes made three special teams tackles on kick return coverage...Raigosa now leads the defense in tackles with 34 while Loretto, McGee and lineman Carlos Ramirez each are tied for the squad lead in sacks with 5.5 a piece...Vergara is the team leader in points with 28 on 4-for-6 FGs and 16-for-17 extra points...The modest 34 points allowed v. COD are the most surrendered by the Lancers under Director of Football Operations/Head Coach Robert Tucker in 17 games since he was hired before the 2021 season. The program has a streak of 21 straight games (since 2019) where it has allowed less than 40 points, remarkable in a period where high-scoring games at the community college level are frequent.