It was the kind of game that someone was going to feel sick to their stomach about all week. Long Beach City College and Mt. San Antonio College battled it out in triple-digit heat on Saturday afternoon at the Covina District Field, and in the end, it was the team that made the fewest mistakes who won the game. LBCC was still in it right up until the end, but saw a game-tying pass into the end zone fall incomplete and fell, 43-36.
“Games like these come down to the team that makes the least mistakes,” said Vikings head coach Brett Peabody. “We lacked discipline. We have nobody to blame but ourselves.”
LBCC took a 7-0 lead then fell behind 12-7 before retaking the lead on Drake Peabody’s second TD run. The two teams went back and forth for the entire game, with eight lead changes.
With 10:52 left in the game, Peabody hit Pierre Robinson on a 40-yard touchdown, then tied it at 29 with a two-point conversion to Jonathan Bonds. After a three-and-out stand by the Vikings D, LBCC took the lead on a 51-yard touchdown run by Robinson, which put them up 36-29 with 9:12 left in the game.
The Mounties went on a 95-yard drive that ended in the tying touchdown with 4:36 left, then took the lead on a 41-yard strike with 1:36 left, a play that began as the Vikings’ 11th defender was desperately trying to get onto the field in time.
“You can’t make mistakes like that against a Mt. SAC,” said Peabody.
The Vikings still had their shot, as Peabody drove the Vikings down the field and got a first and goal at the Mounties’ seven yard line with eight seconds left–but two passes failed to find a Viking in the end zone.
All told, LBCC had 11 penalties for 110 yards and turned the ball over five times.
The game was declared an instant classic after, and both teams were so good that LBCC actually moved up in the national rankings, to No. 21, the Monday after.
The Vikings host LA Valley on Saturday at 5 p.m.
