East Los Angeles College freshman defensive lineman Tysean Brown (#56) and freshman linebacker Elijah Quarles (#10) tackle a San Diego Mesa College Olympian as ELAC sophomore offensive lineman Arnulfo Robles (#53) looks on in a 42-23 ELAC win on Sept. 24. (Photo by DeeDee Jackson)

Posted: Sep 24, 2016

ELAC football wins 42-23 vs. Olympians

MONTEREY PARK,CA — The East Los Angeles College Huskies won 42-23 on a night to bring awareness the Coach to Cure MD Program. The Huskies welcomed Avery Faeth and his family to bring awareness to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

The ELAC football coaches wore Coach to Cure MD patches and Avery Faeth was acknowledged at halftime. In addition, those in attendance had a chance to text the word “Cure” to 90999 to donate $5. For information on how to donate, visit: http://www.parentprojectmd.org/site/PageServer?pagename=CTCMD#

It looked like a long night for the Huskies when ELAC freshman quarterback Jonathan Santos (South East High School) fumbled on the Huskies second play at the ELAC 35 yard line, thirty-five seconds into the game. San Diego Mesa scored nine seconds later and led 7-0.

ELAC, however, bounced right back with a five-play, 69 yard touchdown drive, the latter play a Santos 48-yard strike to freshman wide receiver Kenny Allen (Fairfax HS). It was 7-7.

“We started the game really bad, but the team responded well. The start did not faze them, which is good,” said Art Hoomiriatana, ELAC offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach.

ELAC intercepted Mesa’s next play and scored from a Santos 20-yard touchdown pass to sophomore tight end Ceejhay French-Love (Long Beach Poly HS).

The Husky defense held the Olympians and Santos responded with a two-play touchdown drive that consisted of a 20 yarder followed by a 40-yard pass, both to French-Love. ELAC led 21-7 with 8:26 remaining in the first quarter. The Huskies scored three touchdowns in a span of 3:49 minutes.

Mesa freshman Ronnie Ochoa connected on a 37-yard field goal with 13:32 remaining in the half. ELAC followed with a seven-play, 59-yard drive and scored from a Santos 10-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Kyeree Wallace (Hamilton HS). ELAC led 28-10 with 10:03 left in the half.

The next ELAC possession resulted in 66 yards. Mesa stopped the Huskies on a fourth-and-goal attempt from the three-yard line and took over on the one-yard line. The Olympians marched 99 yards and scored with four seconds remaining in the half. ELAC lead 28-17 at the break.

The teams traded scores in the third quarter. ELAC scored from a Santos 30-yarder to Wallace and led 35-17 with 9:02 remaining in the third. Mesa followed with an 80-yard, nine-play touchdown drive and the Huskies led 35-23 with 1:29 left in the third.

The Huskies closed out the scoring with a sophomore running back Josue Flores (Downey HS) two-yard touchdown run.

The defense would have the final big say in the game for the Huskies. Leading 42-23 against Mesa, the defense stopped the Olympians eight times in the red zone, which began with a first-and-goal from the eight-yard line.

After an apparent fourth-and-goal stop by the Husky defense, ELAC received a flag for pass interference. The Husky defense rose to the occasion and stopped Mesa 4 more downs. Eight consecutive goal line stands is promising for the future.

“Coach Godinez has a special defense that we run in the red zone. When we run it correctly it’s hard to get in there,” said Justin Kosik, ELAC Strength and Condition / Linebacker’s coach.

The Huskies had a season-high 459 yards in total offense to Mesa’s 367. Santos finished the night with 22-of-31 passes for 399 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions.

He averages 229.5 yards per game, 12-best in the state.

Allen caught three passes for 133 yards and a touchdown. He averaged 44.3 yards per catch. French-Love hauled in five passes for 111 yards and he scored two touchdowns. Wallace also had five catches (80 yards), two for touchdowns.

Sophomore kicker Vicente Luis Juan (LA Wilson HS) split the uprights on PATs (six-for-six). He is the current leading scorer for ELAC with 24 points scored in four games, 12 from field goals and 12 PATs (12-of-13).

Of ELAC’s 60 total yards rushing, ELAC sophomore running back Shaquille Shelton (Crenshaw HS) rushed for 34 of them from 12 carries.

Freshman wide receiver Aubrey Mosley-Laughlin (Monrovia HS) had a team-high nine tackles, four of them unassisted.

Two Huskies had seven tackles each, freshman safety Trevon Bordrick (Wilmington, DE / Howard HS of Tech) and freshman defensive lineman Trestan Kueneman (Chino HS).

Three Huskies each had six tackles, freshman linebacker Elijah Quarles (Pasadena HS), all unassisted, sophomore linebacker Travond Ross (Lawndale Burns HS) and sophomore linebacker Anthony Perez (Bastrop, TX / Bastrop HS).

ELAC, 2-2 overall, begins play next week in the newly formed American Conference Metro League at Santa Ana College (0-4). Santa Ana lost to three ranked teams then 48-17 to Allan Hancock College today in Santa Maria.

“Santa Ana is a tough team. Do not let their record fool you. They transferred to our league from the upper division National Conference Southern League,” said Hoomiriatana.

Other scores today from Metro League non-conference games:

No. 4-ranked Pasadena City College (2-2) lost 58-29 at No. 3 Southwestern College (4-0), No. 8 West LA College (1-3) lost 47-30 to No. 10 Victor Valley College (2-1), ECC Compton (0-4) lost 41-6 vs. Santa Barbara City College (3-1).

In addition, LA Southwest College lost 48-3 vs. San Bernardino Valley College (1-3) and Glendale Community College (042) lost 13-0 at No. 1 LA Valley College (3-0).

Game time for ELAC’s matchup at Santa Ana College on Saturday Oct. 1 is 6 p.m. Santa Ana College Stadium is located on 602 N. Flower St., Santa Ana, CA 92702.

story submitted by Tadzio Garcia