MONTEREY – Sophomore running back Vondarious Gordon broke free for a 70-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter that proved to be a game-winner as West Hills College Coalinga rallied to beat Monterey Peninsula College 21-17 on a foggy, misty night on the Monterey Bay.
Gordon had a huge game on offense, scoring all three of the Falcons' touchdowns in the contest.
West Hills head coach Justin Berna was proud of his team's effort.
"Von (Gordon) dominated tonight," he said. "Overall, I thought we played a great game. It was a true team win for us.
"Going into the game, we knew what the were going to do. We knew they were going to try to shorten the game, grind it out, run out the clock, and limit us on offense. We were up for it. We knew we had to attack their holes."
Gordon gave the Falcons the lead late in the first quarter after his 26-yard touchdown reception from Jaice Holt closed out a big 12-play, 91-yard drive. The Falcons missed the PAT kick, but led 6-0 with 39 seconds left in the quarter.
Monterey Peninsula went on a scoring run, putting up 17 unanswered points. The Falcons held MPC to a field goal at the 6:19 mark in the third but West Hills still trailed 17-6 heading into the fourth quarter.
Gordon's second TD, a six-yard run, got the Falcons within striking distance in the fourth. Holt ran in for the two-point conversion and West Hills cut the deficit to 17-14 with 11:07 left to play.
The Falcons' defense forced a punt on MPC's ensuing drive. West Hills got the ball back and Gordon wasted little time inputting the Falcons in front. On West Hills' first play of the drive, Gordon took the ball from the Falcons' 30-yard line and scampered downfield for the 70-yard TD.
But with 7:09 left in the contest, the West Hills defense forced turnovers on downs on both of Monterey Peninsula's final drives.
Rusty Finona had a huge game on defense, coming up with 13 total tackles while Juan Donoso added 8 tackles. Austin Richards had 5 tackles but came up with two big sacks on MPC's final two drives of the contest.
Gordon ran for 180 yards on 20 carries, averaging an impressive 9.0 yards per rush. He also hauled in 2 receptions for 31 yards.
DeQuan Green led WHCC receivers with 6 catches for 43 yards. And Jaice Holt had another efficient game, completing 16 of 25 passes for 134 yards with 2 TDs and a ball that was tipped for an interception.
With the win, West Hills improved to 2-3 overall and 1-0 in Golden Coast League play. The Falcons host Hartnell College next Saturday (Oct. 15) at 1 p.m. in a league game.