LONG BEACH — The Southwestern College Jaguars lost a nail biter to the Long Beach City College Vikings, 20-16, in the Southern California Bowl Game.
SC entered the game 8-4 after winning its season finale against Orange Coast College, 41-0. Long Beach came in with a 7-3 record following a loss to Ventura.
Coach Ed Carberry said before the game that Long Beach was a tough team with gifted players.
“They have a lot of speed and a pretty big offensive line,” he said. “They also have a really good defense and very talented linebackers.”
A field goal by Dino Del Fiero put the Jags up 3-0 in the first two minutes of the game. SC added on when defensive back Braelen Bettles intercepted a pass with 4:35 left in the first quarter. Davion Johnson snarled a 33-yard pass to put the Jaguars inside the 5-yard line. Omari Green punched it in from the three.
The Vikings scored on a touchdown pass by Derrach West to Julian Woodward, but botched the extra point to make it 10-6.
Minutes later West found Zion Bowens on a 42-yard touchdown pass to put the Vikings up 13-10. West threw for only 125 yards, but two touchdowns.
Talaun Patton led the Vikings in rushing with 119 yards on 24 carries, and Bowens led in receiving with 69 yards on four catches.
Johnson found the end zone for the Jaguars when he caught a 49-yard touchdown pass from Joshua Owen late in the second quarter to put them up 16-13. SC missed the extra point.
The turning point came when Jaguar wide receiver Terry Wright fumbled a punt and the Vikings picked it up in the end zone for a 20-16 halftime lead.
That was all the scoring.
Johnson led the Jaguars with 210 receiving yards on nine catches and was SC’s Player of the Game. West was named Player of the Game for Long Beach.
Josh McCurty led SC with 12 tackles.
Despite the loss, Carberry said he was satisfied with the season and his high-achieving team.
Johnson said he was humbled to earn Player of the Game honors for the Jaguars.
“I gave it my all out there, but it wasn’t enough,” said the sophomore wide receiver. “They were the better team and we couldn’t pull out the win.”
