Huskies Battle, Suffer Double-OT Heartbreaker

by Cerwin D Haynes

Trailing 33-25 in the second overtime period to San Diego Mesa, East LA College QB Terrance Gipson used his feet to find daylight, running 22 yards for a touchdown. But with needing to convert the two-point try to extend the game, Jaylen Moore's pass into the end zone was intercepted, sealing a 33-31 win for the Olympians (3-0) and - for the second straight week - a Huskies (1-2) overtime loss.

After suffering said overtime loss last week at Chaffey College, the Huskies looked to get back to winning with their home opener against the unbeaten San Diego Mesa Olympians tonight. Similar to last week, the Huskies held an 8-point lead in the fourth quarter. But for the second straight week, the defense could not make the lead stand, giving up a touchdown and game-tying two-point conversion in regulation to ultimately be forced into overtime with the game tied at 25.

ELAC would get the ball first in the initial OT period, but came up short: On 4th-and-9 from the Mesa 24, Gipson completed a pass to Trejan Bridges near the Huskies' sideline, but only got six of the needed nine yards. The Olympians then took their turn at the Huskies' 25, and on 3rd-and-24, Mesa QB Gunnar Gray's pass was intercepted by ELAC DB JJ Mcdaniel to end the period.

SD Mesa would get the ball first to start the second OT, and drove to the ELAC 12-yard line. Gray took the snap and faked a handoff to his RB, which fooled the ELAC defense. Gray scampered 12-yards into the end zone for the touchdown, and Mesa opted for the two-point try. Gray's pass found WR Timieone Jackson on a crossing route in the endzone, and the Olympians took a 33-25 lead.

East would get (at least) one more crack on offense: After gaining seven yards on a first down run, RB Jake Honstetter took the handoff on second down and ran 18 yards to paydirt... only to have it called back on a holding penalty against ELAC. On the replay of the down, Gipson was sacked by Ezra Christensen to bring up 3rd-and-22 from the Mesa 37. Gipson fired a pass to Tyson Schilling that Schilling couldn't hall in, but he did draw a pass-interference call on the Olympians for 15 yards and a fresh set of downs. On the next play, Gipson made his 22-yard dash to the endzone for the chance to extend the game.

Gipson was 19-29 for 211 yards and three TDs. He also ran 13 times for 64 yards and two scores, including an electrifying 49-yard TD run.

HUSKY BITS:

• ELAC outgained SD Mesa in total yardage, 340-280.
• They also held the Olympians' Gunnar Gray to 128 yards passing. Gray was 19-39 with one touchdown and two interceptions.
• Bridges led all receivers with six catches for 86 yards and a touchdown.
• Placekicking woes continues to haunt ELAC in the early part of this season. K Andres Banda, who has only made 7/13 extra point tries this season, was unavailable tonight. DB Angel Ochoa (1/2) and LB Hassin Lopez (0/1) shared PAT duties tonight. Overall, the Huskies have only converted eight of the 16 extra point tries so far this season.
• East LA College football has shown that they have the talent to compete with the top tier teams in SoCal. Unfortunately, for the second straight week, the Huskies took an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter and were unable to hold it.

UP NEXT

The Huskies will take the week to recover before they welcome the Saddleback College Bobcats (1-2) to Weingart Stadium next Saturday. Kickoff at 6pm.