Football: Long Beach escapes L.A. Pierce with thrilling 38-35 win

Sophomore David Covey nailed a 37-yard field goal with two seconds left in the game to lift the Long Beach City College football team to a thrilling 38-35 non-conference win at Los Angeles Pierce College on Saturday night. The win improved the Vikings to 3-1 overall this season.

Pierce (2-2) of the American Division looked to knock off another higher division team after upsetting National Division Fullerton College 24-21 in overtime last week, but couldn't contain LBCC sophomore quarterback Gabriel Thomas.

Thomas, making his second start in place of injured starter Tyler Tuiasosopo, tossed four touchdowns and ran wild for a game-high 97 yards on 20 carries.

Long Beach led 21-7 at halftime as was up 35-14 entering the fourth quarter before Pierce rallied late with three straight touchdowns.

Following Pierce's final score, Thomas and the Vikings got the ball back with just 30 seconds on the clock. After a short kickoff by Pierce and a 10-yard return by Justin Aysse, LBCC began its game-winning drive on its own 40-yard line.

On the Vikings' first play, Thomas connected with Sean Morris for a short three-yard reception, but Pierce was called for a 15-yard face mask penalty that put Long Beach in Pierce territory. Two plays later, Thomas hit Mike Evans with a big 22-yard reception that put LBCC on Pierce's 20-yard line to set up Covey's game-winning kick.

Thomas closed the night completing 17 of 29 passes for 200 yards with four TDs and an interception.

Freshman Travon Payne had a pair of touchdown receptions to lead LBCC receivers. He caught six passes for 50 yards while sophomore Deondre Powell caught six passes for 96 yards with one touchdown. Freshman Willie Bobbitt also hauled in a six-yard TD reception.

LBCC returns to action next Saturday (Oct. 2) at 1 p.m. when it hosts Santa Ana College in a non-conference game at Veterans Memorial Stadium.