While the Pasadena City College football team said goodbye to a bevy of top lettermen pass rushers, the Lancers may have found a key running back for next season in Caleb Gardner. The freshman Gardner rushed for 125 yards and two touchdowns in PCC's 27-17 season-ending loss at SCFA American Mountain League champion Mt. San Jacinto on Saturday afternoon.
The Lancers closed the year at 5-5 and tied for fourth place in the AML while MSJC improved to 9-1 and had a 5-0 mark to win the 2022 league title.
PCC put a scare into the Eagles, leading 9-6 at halftime and held MSJC to its season low in scoring.
In the opening quarter, letterman defensive lineman Carlos Ramirez stopped Eagles' quarterback Robert Coleman on a fourth down-and-1 sneak. The Lancers took possession at midfield and Gardner broke the middle for a 32-yard run on a draw play. The long run set up Justin Vergara's 35-yard field goal for a 3-0 PCC lead with five minutes left in the period.
After MSJC took a 6-3 lead on the first of three touchdown runs by Jaylen Magee, PCC would go on a 14-play, 87-yard scoring drive. Gardner had a 13-yard kick return, a 22-yard carry and took an 11-yard screen from quarterback Jakob Doolittle inside the red zone. He reached the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown run with 1:10 remaining in the second quarter. Vergara's extra point kick was blocked.
An interception on a bomb pass to the end zone by safety Osvaldo Raigosa allowed PCC to take a surprising 9-6 lead into halftime.
PCC's defense totaled seven sacks and kept the potent Eagles' offense down for most of the first three quarters. Things unraveled for the Lancers in the final few minutes of the period. After Coleman completed three straight passes on a short drive, Magee darted in for a 7-yard TD run to give Mt. San Jacinto a 13-9 lead.
One play after the ensuing kickoff, a poor pitch resulted in a fumble with Naisir Morrow recovering the mistake at the Lancers' 10. A personal foul penalty on the fumble gave MSJC the ball at the PCC 5 and Coleman followed with a 4-yard TD pass to the corner of the end zone to receiver Jevin Dorsey. The two touchdowns in a short span gave the Eagles a 20-9 lead after three quarters.
The Lancers responded on the following series. Gardner found an opening in the middle of the Mt. San Jacinto line and raced 33 yards for his second touchdown. Ivan Ostry ran in a 2-point conversion that cut it to 20-17 just 3:34 into the fourth quarter.
That was Pasadena's last highlight as Magee's third touchdown on a 5-yard run sealed the Eagles' victory with 1:15 left.
Gardner finished with the team's only 100-yard rushing performance in 2022 by an individual as he carried 19 times and averaged 6.6 yards per attempt. The performance followed the longest play from scrimmage by a PCC player this season turned in by Gardner on a 78-yard TD rumble during the Lancers' win over Victor Valley.
Ramirez put on a show during his final game as a Lancer, making 10 tackles, 2.5 sacks (4.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage), a forced fumble and a QB hurry. Freshman linebacker Michael Prappas added nine tackles and a sack. Raigosa chipped in eight tackles.
Ramirez finished the season with 11 sacks, fourth in the state. Other sophomore defenders stepped up in the finale in lineman Michelangelo Loretto (five tackles, 1.5 sacks, a recovered fumble), outside linebacker Jaylon McGee (4 tackles, 1.5 sacks), outside linebacker Mark Anderson III (six tackles), and lineman Luis Canales (five tackles). Inside linebacker Jordan Monroe, the SCFA Defensive Player of the Week against Victor Valley, added a half sack and a hurry in his last Lancers game.
The Lancers totaled 43 sacks, second in the state to Santa Ana (44).
PCC GRID NOTES: In an unusual circumstance, PCC had three different quarterbacks reach the 600-yard passing mark with sophomore Doolittle's 648 yards leading the way...Ostry led the team in receiving on 30 receptions for 377 yards and was one of the state's leading returners with 514 kick return yards and two TDs...Isaac Glover's 369 yards led the team in rushing and Gardner tied him for rushing TDs with four each...Vergara was the team's scoring leader with 49 points as he made 7-of-9 field goal attempts and converted 28 of 30 extra points (one blocked)...Raigosa led the team in tackles with 58 (38 solos also a team high...McGee added 52 tackles and eight sacks and Loretto 44 tackles, 8.5 sacks, an interception and two fumble recoveries...Ramirez closed things with 46 tackles, including a team-best 16.5 for lost yardage. Monroe totaled 48 tackles, six sacks and forced three fumbles..Nathaniel Palacios led the secondary with three interceptions and five pass break-ups.