Trilian Harris Breakout Game Fuels Huskies Rout of Vikings

by Cerwin D Haynes

Coming off the bye week, East LA College football head coach Bobby Godinez was looking forward to getting many of his defensive starters back in the lineup that had been suffering from various injuries the past few weeks.

While the defense did flash signs tonight of returning to expected form, it was the offense - especially freshman QB Trilian Harris - that exceeded expectations with a dominant performance. #21 State-ranked ELAC (4-2, 2-1) scored 40 first-half points en route to a big 54-27 win over host #11 Long Beach City College (3-3, 2-1) in the second annual Presidents' Cup game.

Sophomore QB Frank Alvarez started the game, but Harris came in during the Huskies' third offensive series... and never looked back.

In the first half alone, Harris completed 14-19 passes for 258 yards and SIX TD passes. Three of those six scoring throws were hauled in by sophomore WR Kennedy Lewis, who also had himself a dominant performance: four catches for 134 yards, three TDs. Harris connected with Lewis on touchdown passes of 46, 62 and 13 yards.

"Trill has got all the talent in the world," says Coach Godinez. "We've been waiting for this the whole time."

What actually got Harris untracked first was his feet: on 2nd and 10 at the ELAC 45 (thanks to an interception return by sophomore DB DJ Shanks), Harris' ran twice for 12 yards and then seven yards to advance to the Vikings 36. Sophomore RB Tyler Smith would then burst through the line and initial contact to run for eight more yards and another Huskies' first down. Now with the LBCC defense thinking run, Harris uncorked a deep sideline pass that found freshman WR Bryson Corbin for a 28-yard TD catch. ELAC whiffed on the extra point, so they had to settle for a 6-0 lead. Long Beach answered on their ensuing drive: aided by three offside penalties by East's defense, the Vikings marched downfield and ultimately capitalized on a two-yard TD run by Konyae Hunter. Converted extra point gave the Vikings their only lead of the evening at 7-6.

On the kickoff, the Vikings elected to pooch-kick the ball, perhaps to avoid two-time SCFA Player-of-the-Week DeGabriel Floyd from returning the kick. Freshman DB Andrew Lewis fielded the kick at the ELAC 35, and he channeled some of Floyd's electricity into his own return, advancing the ball up to the LBCC 46. The offense came on with a short field to work with, and immediately made Long Beach pay: on first down, Harris launched a bomb to the right side looking for Lewis. The Melissa, TX native was streaking down the field and got behind the covering DB. Lewis hauled in the catch at the 15, and was in the endzone a few steps later. 

After the Pack forced a three-and-out on defense (thanks to a third-down sack by Dre Towns) and a punt, they would get the ball at their 41. A two-yard Floyd run would then be essentially erased by a false start on second down. Turns out that Harris and Lewis just wanted a bit more room for their next play: Harris fakes the hand-off to Jake Honstetter, and launches his pass again to the right, and finds Lewis at the 50. Lewis breaks a tackle, and takes off down the sideline for his second touchdown. With the extra point, ELAC goes up 20-7 on the host Vikings.

Later in the second quarter with the score 27-10 ELAC, the Huskies faced a third-and-2 from the Long Beach 40. Harris drops back as the Vikings blitz, with LB Jamarlo Campbell jumping through the line to launch himself at Harris. Campbell wraps his arms around Harris' leg and looks like he's about to sack the Huskies' QB, but the Mission Viejo product fires off a pass right before he's brought down. It sails down the middle of the field, and is caught by a crossing Corbin who turns upfield and races into the end zone. The extra point gave the road Green a 34-10 lead.

It was an unbelievable display of Harris finding an open receiver under heavy duress, and perhaps the defining moment of the Huskies' explosive offense for the evening. ELAC would ultimately take a 40-13 lead into halftime and were never threatened the rest of the game.

HUSKY BITS

• Trilian Harris finished with a line of 15-26 for 274 yards, six TDs. The coaching staff has been working with him on connecting with the talent around him throughout the season, and they're happy the fruits of labor are finally coming to bear. "If he goes ahead and trusts that process, he's gonna have good results," said Coach Godinez after the game.
• Corbin had three catches for 83 yards and two TDs.
• DeGabriel Floyd once again had an impact all over the field.
  • He had five catches for 40 yards including a four-yard TD catch where he used his size to grab the ball above and away from the defending DB in the end zone.
  • Four rushes for 19 yards, including a three-yard TD run.
  • Two kickoff returns for 77 yards.
  • Three tackles and a pass breakup.
• The defense flashed its playmaking chops, tallying five sacks, seven TFLs and two interceptions.
  • Tymere Jackson had six total tackles including a sack and a TFL.
  • Brinkley Shoes snared an INT off an impressive effort: in the third quarter, ELAC forced LBCC into a 3rd-and long situation at the Vikings 26. QB Will Madonna drops back to pass and is chased hard by a pair of Huskies. Under pressure and running left, he throws up a high-arching pass across his body to his right. Shoes located the ball on its way down, dove for it, and plucked it out of the air right before it hit the ground.

UP NEXT:

ELAC returns home next Saturday to face SoCal football vanguard Mt. SAC. The Huskies haven't faced the Mounties since 2019, but with the SCFA league realignment taking place this past spring, both schools now are in the same conference. Kickoff at Weingart Stadium set to 6pm.