Defense, Mascolino Magnificent In Football's Shutout At East LA

Gianni Mascolino passed for five touchdowns and the Pasadena City College football team's defense did the rest as the Lancers stopped a 3-game losing streak with a 35-0 blanking at East Los Angeles College on Saturday.

PCC improved to 4-5 overall and 2-4 in SCFA Central League play while the Huskies dropped to 2-7 and 1-5. 

After a scoreless first quarter, a 20-yard punt return by Noah Triplett and a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty on ELAC on a third down incompletion allowed the Lancers to move into Huskies' territory. Mascolino connected for the first of three TD throws to tight end Javery Mayberry, a 33-yard pass five minutes into the second quarter. 

Mascolino, the team's third different starting quarterback of the season due to injuries, then engineered a 14-play, 73-yard drive that culminated on a 3-yard scoring toss to Mayberry with 1:41 left before halftime. Mascolino was 5-for-6 in the series. 

With 44 seconds left in the second quarter, Mascolino went deep as he bombed a 70-yard TD to wide receiver Ethan Hubbell. For the second time this season, holder/wide receiver Jagg Richer faked a hold on the extra point and scored on a 2-point conversion that gave PCC a 22-0 lead going into the intermission. 

Richer pulled in a 27-yard TD and Mayberry grabbed a 15-yard scoring reception just crossing the corner of the end zone to close out a brilliant performance by the sophomore Mascolino. In just his second game of the season after sitting out the first seven games as the third-string emergency QB behind two freshmen, Mascolino seized the opportunity for his first start since his freshman season as he completed 18 of 28 passes for 255 yards. 

The Lancers D recorded a shutout for the the third straight season (twice v. Glendale) as they limited ELAC to just 107 offensive yards and nine first downs. 

Coleman Morning once again led the Lancers in tackles with seven, including one of the team's four sacks and a quarterback hurry. Devon Jones, Gio Livingston, and Roe McKinney all had sacks, Jonah Maningo and Nathan Yarahmadi made interceptions, Zay Blades blocked a punt, and Peter Aguilar had a pair of tackles for lost yardage to highlight the PCC defense.

In all, the Lancers tackled Huskies' rushers and quarterbacks 10 times behind the line of scrimmage. 

Meanwhile, Triplett continued his solid season as he rushed for 67 yards in 17 carries and totaled 112 all-purpose yards and Mayberry made all three of his catches for TDs, adding to his team-leading total of seven. Richer contributed five receptions for 62 yards and Cam Mitchell had two receptions for 38 yards. Dom Ezeonye added 11 carries for 33 yards and Adam Huizar 31 yards in six attempts. 

Kicker Zack Hutchinson converted three extra points, had two kickoffs for touchbacks, and added a tackle on one return. 

Coach Robert Tucker's Lancers close the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 8 when they hope to reach the .500 mark in the road finale at Orange Coast College. Kickoff is 6 p.m.

PCC upped its record v. ELAC in the all-time series to 17-12-1 in facing the Huskies for the first time since 2017.