ELAC gets 38-19 football win in new era

MONTEREY PARK, Calif. -- The East Los Angeles College Huskies recorded a 38-19 win against Allan Hancock College, their first victory of the Head Coach Bobby Godinez era. Godinez is the third football coach at ELAC in as many years. It was the first meeting of the two schools since 2007.

It was a busy first quarter. Hancock scored touchdowns on its first two possessions, the latter as time expired in the quarter.

Sandwiched in between the touchdowns, ELAC freshman quarterback Jonathan Santos (South East High School) connected a 44-yarder to freshman wide receiver Kenny Allen (Fairfax HS) on the Huskies’ first play on offense.

With less than a minute left in the first quarter, the Huskies stopped Hancock on a fourth and seven at the ELAC 30-yard line after a Bulldog one-yard gain. The Huskies followed with two consecutive penalties, a roughing the passer call and a flag for 12 men on the field.

Hancock, with new life on the ELAC six-yard line, cashed in on the Husky mistakes and scored its second touchdown, a five-yard run from freshman running back Tony Saintmelus, and led 13-0 at the end of the first quarter. ELAC freshman defensive lineman Sione Vea (Honolulu, HI / Kalani HS) blocked the kick.

ELAC answered with the first of big three plays that resulted in the Huskies’ first touchdown of the season. ELAC sophomore wide receiver Cemaj Douglas (Dorsey HS) caught the ensuing kickoff and raced 36 yards to the ELAC 46.

Sandwiched between two incomplete passes, Santos connected on a 51-yard pass play to Douglas. Sophomore running back Shiloh Jordan (Owings Mills, MD / New Town HS) followed with a three-yard touchdown run 46 seconds into the third quarter. Hancock’s lead was just 13-7.

The momentum changed less than a minute into the second half. ELAC faced a second and 11 on its second play of the third quarter on the Hancock 19-yard line. Sophomore running back Dominique Lee (Dominguez HS) sped 81 yards for a touchdown. ELAC led 14-13 with 14:02 remaining in the third quarter.

On the following play, ELAC sophomore running back Vaquel Junious Brown (Animo South Los Angeles HS) recovered a Bulldog sophomore safety Cameo Autry fumble on the Hancock 30-yard line.

Santos then completed a 30-yard pass to Allen and ELAC scored its second touchdown in eight seconds for a 21-13 lead.  Hancock responded with a five-play touchdown drive highlighted by a 64-yard Saintmelus run and a one-yard sophomore quarterback Matt Albright touchdown run.

The Huskies stopped a two-point conversion attempt, a Saintmelus one-yard rush and ELAC led 21-19 with 11:47 left in the third.

ELAC scored with 00:17 seconds left in the third with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Santos to sophomore wide receiver Khamren Davenport (Frederick Douglass Academy).

The Huskies increased their lead to 31-19 with 5:17 remaining in the game when sophomore kicker Vicente Luis Juan (LA Wilson HS) split the uprights with a 27-yard field goal.

Santos completed a 39-yard touchdown pass to Douglas with 4:40 remaining in the game to close out the scoring with a three-play Husky touchdown drive.

“The team responded from a loss last week and from the first quarter (deficit),” said Godinez. “This shows a lot of character and it’s a sign of things to come.”

ELAC finished with 411 total offensive yards to 281 for Hancock. The Huskies defense held Hancock to 79 yards rushing in the final three quarters after the Bulldogs gained 66 yards on the ground in the opening 15 minutes.

“Once we (the Husky defense) realized their running (game), our guys gained confidence and stepped up,” said ELAC Assistant Coach Justin Kosik.

Santos finished the night 21-of-34 for 279 yards with three touchdowns. Douglas caught six balls for 89 yards with an average of 14.8 yards per catch. He scored the first touchdown of his Husky career. Allen and sophomore tight end Ceejhay French-Love each caught two passes for 74 and 53 yards, respectively for the Huskies.

Lee rushed for 76 yards from three carries and sophomore running back Shaquille Shelton (Crenshaw HS) added 38 yards rushing from six carries for ELAC.

Saintmelus totaled 118 yards from 21 carries and a touchdown for Hancock while teammate and sophomore wide receiver Nick Kimball caught six passes for 51 yards and a touchdown. Albright finished 10-of-26 for 134 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions for the Bulldogs.

Hancock had 68 defensive tackles to ELAC’S 66. Game high defensive stats came from Hancock’s Autry, who had eight tackles, six of them unassisted. Autry also broke up an ELAC pass.

ELAC sophomore defensive back Anthony Figueroa (Whittier HS) led the Huskies in tackles, seven with two unassisted.

ELAC freshman linebacker Elijah Quarles (Pasadena HS) had six tackles and a quarterback sack for an eight-yard Bulldog loss. Sophomore linebacker Jaren Jackson had six tackles for the Huskies, five of them solo tackles.

Only two teams from the American Conference Metro League won non-conference games this week, ELAC, 1-1 overall, and Pasadena City College (1-1) who defeated San Bernardino Valley College (0-2) 26-11.

Other scores included West LA College (1-1) losing 45-28 at Santa Barbara City College (1-1), ECC Compton (0-2) losing 43-0 at Mt. San Jacinto College (1-0), Glendale Community College (0-2) losing 27-14 at Southwestern College (2-0), LA Southwest College (0-2) losing 12-10 to LA Pierce College (1-1) and Santa Ana College (0-2) losing to Citrus College (2-0) 49-21.

ELAC travels to Antelope Valley College (1-1) of the National Conference on Saturday Sept. 17. Game time is 7 p.m.

story submitted by Tadzio Garcia