Football Finds The "Kea" To Victory In Safety's Late Heroics

With Victor Valley College threatening to take the lead, freshman safety Roland "Kea" Rodrigues twice ended Rams drives with pass breakups late in the fourth quarter as the Pasadena City College football team held on for a 17-14, SCFA American Division Mountain League victory at Adelanto High School on Saturday.

PCC improved to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the Mountain League. Hard-luck Victor Valley dropped to 1-6 and 0-3 in AML play.

With a little more than two minutes left, Victor Valley faced a 4th-and-10 at the PCC 41 yard-line. VVC quarterback KC Moore placed a perfect pass to a leaping Alex Gonzales at the PCC 27, but Rodrigues knocked the ball out of the receiver's hands to prevent both a first down and end the scoring threat. 

A few minutes earlier, Rodrigues again thrwarted a VVC drive with a breakup on a Moore pass at the Lancers' 15. Rams' kicker Carlos Garcia then missed wide right on a 37-yard field goal try that would have tied the game. Rodrigues made three pass break-ups in all and added two tackles. Another key defender was sophomore linebacker Lucio Rodriguez, who made a team-high eight tackles and knocked down a pass. 

A low-scoring contest, the teams were tied at 7-7 until a wild scoring flurry in a three-minute span early in the fourth quarter.

Just eleven seconds into the final period, Cristian Contreras capped a 13-play, 68-yard Lancers drive with a 19-yard field goal and a 10-7 PCC lead. Lancers letterman quarterback Kade Wentz, who missed last week's game due to injury, completed 5-for-6 passes for 62 yards on the drive, including throws of 20 and 16 yards to sophomore wide receiver Wheeler Smith. The second catch was a leaping grab by Smith at the VVC 2. Wentz also connected on a 4th-and-2 pass to Justen Campbell for five yards that extended the drive at that point to the Rams' 25. 

Victor Valley answered immediately with a 33-yard TD connection from Moore to Le-Shaun Potts to take a 14-10 lead with 13:35 remaining. However, PCC sophomore Jabari Kindle returned the ensuing kickoff 52 yards into VVC territory. The San Marino High duo of Wentz-Smith then hooked up for a 23-yard touchdown pass. It turned out to be the game-winning score with 11:58 still to play. 

Trailing 7-0 in the second quarter, PCC came up with a huge defensive stop as Jordan Monroe and Jalen Thornton dropped VVC running back Jordan Atkins for a 7-yard loss (added by an initial attack through the line by Luis Canales) on a 4th-and-1 situation. The Lancers took possession at the Victor Valley 39 and then eight plays to score their first TD.

Wentz was spectacular on a 12-yard scoring run as he eluded two VVC tacklers by doing a 360-degree spin-o-rama, then dove into the end zone for the six points. Contreras tied it at 7-7 on the extra point kick with 4:09 left before halftime.

"I credit our team and coaches for keeping their wits and poise during a low-scoring game on the road," said PCC Director of Football Operations/Head Coach Robert Tucker. "Special teams set up a touchdown with a big return by Jabari, offense scored 10 points, and the defense was able to get stops at critical moments in the fourth quarter. We always talk about the importance of situational awareness and playing complimentary football. We were consistent in both areas throughout the game."

On the squad's 6-2 season thus far, he said: "I love where we are at as a team. I told them early on that we will only be as good as we are close. Our guys really love and trust each other. What they are doing collectively goes way beyond the game. I'm very proud of their development on and off the field."

Next week, PCC hope to earn a potential 3-way tie for first place in the AML as it hosts league leader Mt. San Jacinto (7-1, 4-0) on Saturday, Nov. 6. Kickoff is 6 p.m. at Robinson Stadium. MSJC has the state's top offense at 516.6 yards a game and is coming off a 77-0 win over Compton. Grossmont will likely move to 4-1 as it faces Compton next Saturday. A victory by PCC v. the Eagles would create a 3-way logjam with 4-1 records for Pasadena, MSJC and Grossmont. 

On Saturday, Nov. 13, all of the league teams will have a 10th game, a sixth league game with the opponent and location to be announced.

PCC GRID NOTES: Despite having athletics since 1965, Victor Valley and PCC (opened for athletics as Pasadena Junior College in 1925) had never faced each other on the gridiron until Saturday's contest...Wentz finished with 230 yards passing (18-for-30) and no interceptions. The Lancers did not make any turnovers for the first time this season...PCC followed up its season-high in rushing last week v. Compton with a season-low in running yards v. Victor Valley with just 72. Miles Anderson carried 15 times for 50 yards for the bulk of that yardage...Besides the Rodrigues(z) clan, other players with strong defensive efforts included Osvaldo Raigosa with seven tackles, Jaylon McGee six tackles, Carlos Ramirez five tackles, Monroe with four tackles and a sack, and Salah Odeh four tackles and two pass break-ups...The defense held state rushing leader and VVC running back Kenyard Williams Jr. to a few yards less than his average-per-game at 132 yards on 26 carries...Lucio Rodriguez is ninth in the state in total tackles with 63, averaging about eight per game...Wentz is 15th in the state in passing at 210 yards per game...Smith is tied for 16th in the state in receptions with 34. 

Photo below of Kea Rodrigues