ELAC football defeats ECC Compton
COMPTON, CA — The East Los Angeles College Huskies adjusted from playing without several injured players and from a 21-19 lead with 07:34 remaining in the third quarter to pull out a 56-22 win against El Camino College Compton Center.
Several key Huskies were out including sophomore kicker Vicente Luis Juan (LA Wilson HS).
“Regardless of who is missing from a line-up, any team can beat any other on any given day in JC football in California,” said Vicente Luis Juan. “Compton was winless coming into the game. We knew it would be a tough, physical game.”
ELAC opened the scoring with two touchdowns in the first quarter. Compton took advantage of two freshman quarterback Jonathan Santos (South East High School) tipped interceptions, and was down one point at the half, 14-13.
After the teams traded touchdowns in the third, the Huskies fixed their miscues and cashed in on some Compton mistakes.
“All week the coaches talked about the defense scoring,” said freshman linebacker Daniel Belton (South East HS). And that they did.
ELAC outscored Compton 21-0 in the final six-plus minutes, including two touchdowns from its defense. Belton jumped and caught a Compton blocked punt and ran it in for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. ELAC freshman defensive lineman Sione Vea (Honolulu, HI / Kalani HS) blocked the punt.
Husky sophomore cornerback Cinwon Whitehead (Hampton, GA / Lovejoy HS) returned a 48-yard interception for a touchdown also in the fourth.
Sophomore linebacker Anthony Perez (Bastrop, TX / Bastrop HS) replaced Vicente Luis Juan as PAT kicker and connected an 8-of-8 PATs. “There was no pressure. I stepped in and did my job—what is expected from all of us,” said Perez.
ELAC scored at the 08:35 mark of the first quarter—a freshman quarterback Jonathan Santos (South East High School) touchdown pass to sophomore tight end Ceejhay French-Love (Long Beach Poly HS).
The duo scored ELAC’s second touchdown, this one a nine-yarder, with 02:51 left in the first. ELAC led 14-0 at the end of the quarter. ELAC outgained Compton in first-quarter yardage, 150 to nine.
Compton freshman linebacker Titus Heath (Signal Hill HS) intercepted an underthrown tipped Santos pass and returned it 22 yards for the score. ELAC freshman defensive lineman Sione Vea (Honolulu, HI / Kalani HS) blocked the PAT. ELAC led 14-7.
Forty-one seconds later, Compton freshman defensive back Fabian Zavala (Redondo Union) intercepted another Santos tipped pass, this one in traffic, and returned it 33 yards to the ELAC one-yard line. ELAC sophomore offensive lineman Juan Gonzalez (Bell HS) tackled Zavala short of the score.
Compton freshman quarterback Johnny Bailey (Centennial HS), however, threw a one-yard touchdown pass to sophomore running back Devonte Dixon (Paramount HS). ELAC led 14-13 through the end of the half.
Compton held ELAC to 42-total offensive yardage in the second period.
The ELAC defense set up the next score. Sophomore defensive back Anthony Figueroa (Whittier HS) intercepted a Bailey pass at the Compton 45 and ran it back to the 15-yard line.
After an ELAC one-yard rushing loss tackled by Compton freshman Samuel Shirley (Dominguez HS), Santos tossed his third touchdown pass of the night, this one for 16 yards to sophomore wide receiver Khamren Davenport (Frederick Douglas HS). ELAC led 21-13.
It took Compton less than two minutes to score from a six-play 60-yard touchdown drive from a sophomore running back Henry Williams (Dominguez HS) 11-yard run.
The Huskies responded with two touchdowns during their next two possessions. Santos threw a 47-yard completion to sophomore wide receiver Cemaj Douglas (Dorsey HS), which set up a sophomore running back Shaquille Shelton (Crenshaw HS) five-yard touchdown run.
On the next possession, Vea blocked Compton’s punt on fourth down. Santos threw his fourth touchdown pass to freshman wide receiver Kenny Allen (Fairfax HS) for a 35-19 with 04:39 remaining in the third.
ELAC scored three fourth quarter touchdowns, two from the defense.
The Huskies outgained Compton in yardage 386 to 216. Santos finished 17-of-36 passes for 215 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. Bailey was 15-of-35 for 156 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions.
Santos averages 249 yards per game, 9th-best in the state.
Shelton and Williams each rushed for 37 yards with one touchdown for their respective team. ELAC sophomore running back Shiloh Jordan (Owings Mills, MD / New Town HS) rushed for 33 yards.
Douglas hauled in five passes for 71 yards. Allen caught three passes for 58 yards and a touchdown. Compton sophomore running back Russell Shaw III (LA Hamilton HS) had a game-high 83 yards from five passes.
Santos punted in place of Vicente Luis Juan and averaged 42.3 yards from three punts. Sophomore safety Joey Knowles (John Muir HS) took over the kickoff duties from Vicente Luis Juan and averaged 46.6 yards per punt in nine kickoffs.
On the defensive side, Belton added to his touchdown run a team-high nine tackles for the Huskies, seven of them unassisted. He had one solo quarterback sack.
Three Huskies had five tackles each, four of them unassisted—freshman safety Trevon Bordrick (Wilmington, DE / Howard HS of Tech), freshman linebacker Elijah Quarles (Pasadena HS) and freshman safety Ryan Ausbrooks (Sterling Heights, MI / Henry Ford II HS).
ELAC, No. 7-ranked in the SoCal American Conference, is 4-2 overall and tied for first place in the Metro League at 2-0 with No. 10 West LA College (3-3, 2-0).
West LA defeated Pasadena City College (3-3, 2-1) earlier today and Santa Ana College (1-5, 1-1) won 55-16 at LA Southwest College (0-5, 0-1).
The Huskies host LA Southwest on Saturday, Oct. 13 with a 6 p.m. kickoff at Weingart Stadium.
story submitted by Tadzio Garcia