Football: Long Beach rallies late to beat Citrus 32-31 in season finale
Freshman Jared Ginter’s five-yard touchdown run followed by a two-point conversion run by freshman Willie Bobbitt with 1:10 left in the game gave the Long Beach City College football team a thrilling 32-31 West Conference win at Citrus College on Saturday in both teams’ season finale.
Freshman Jared Ginter's five-yard touchdown run followed by a two-point conversion run by freshman Willie Bobbitt with 1:10 left in the game gave the Long Beach City College football team a thrilling 32-31 West Conference win at Citrus College on Saturday in both teams' season finale.
Long Beach came back from 10 points down after Citrus went up 31-21 with a touchdown at the 14:56 mark in the fourth.
But sophomore David Covey got Long Beach within seven points after he nailed an impressive 51-yard field goal with 9:44 left. The kick split the uprights down the middle and just cleared the crossbar.
The Viking defense then did its part to shut down the Owls. Freshman Dionte Hargrove forced a fumble on Citrus' next possession. Long Beach followed that up by forcing the Owls to punt after three offensive plays on its following possession.
Long Beach and sophomore quarterback Gabriel Thomas began the game-winning drive at the LBCC 17-yard line with 4:37 left. A big 48-yard completion to freshman Sean Morris put the Vikings on the Citrus 10-yard line. Three plays later, Ginter fought his way in from five yards out to get Long Beach within one point at 31-30.
LBCC head coach Mike Reisbig didn't hesitate in going for the two-point conversion. Bobbitt came from the far side on a sweep attempt and clipped the right edge of the end zone for the successful two-point try.
On Citrus' final drive, sophomore Fred Rogers closed out the win with his school-record eighth interception as time expired. Rogers had a big day on defense, posting a game-high 12 tackles. He also broke up a pair of passes and added a fumble recovery.
Thomas threw for 287 yards on 13 of 22 passing with two interceptions and a TD pass. Thomas hooked up with freshman Travon Payne for a 91-yard touchdown in the first quarter. He also snuck in from a yard out for a second-quarter touchdown.
Freshman Jon Vaughn added a 16-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to round out LBCC's scoring.
Citrus (2-8, 1-4 WC) actually outgained the Vikings on offense, 517-476 yards. Brandon Stansell (134 yards) and Ricky Johnson (127 yards) both totaled over 100 yards rushing.
Reisbig and the Vikings close the 2010 season with a 5-5 overall record and 2-3 mark in conference play.