Special Teams, Long TDs Rally Football To SoCal Bowl Championship

The Pasadena City College football team performed a highlight reel of big plays, needing every one of them to rally past host Santa Ana, 28-21, for the SCFA SoCal Bowl title Saturday night. For the first time in 20 years, the Lancers won both a conference--American Mountain League--and bowl championship in the same season.

The 2021 Lancers finished 9-2 overall as "The Midas Man" once again turned a football program into gold in first-year Director of Football Operations/Head Coach Robert Tucker. The coach has directed first-year bowl title teams at three different colleges including at his last two stops--West Hills College Coalinga (2014) and Los Angeles Valley (2015). His overall community college record is 39-5 (.886 win percentage), he is 4-for-4 in bowl championships in his four years at this level, and he has three conference championships titles as well.

"I love this team and am so proud of the players and coaches," Tucker said. "They have so much fight in them. We always talk about staying off the peaks and out of the valleys, and their consistent mindset helped them stay the course and become champions."

PCC quarterback Kade Wentz was named SoCal Bowl MVP after completing 18 of 24 passes for 268 yards and connecting on a game-winning, 95-yard touchdown pass to running back Miles Anderson, who was wide open at midfield and raced the final 50 yards down the sideline for the score. Cristian Contreras fourth of four extra point kicks gave the team a 7-point lead with just 6:24 remaining. 

Lancers linebacker Jordan Monroe was selected Player of the Game thanks to a 97-yard interception return for a touchdown that gave Pasadena a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter. It was the fifth longest interception return in program history. 

After not appearing in a bowl in 13 years, PCC trailed 7-0, took the 14-7 advantage, and then fell behind, 21-14, by halftime. But a theme that has been a part of the Lancers this season is how the defense has stepped up in second halves of games. This one was no different as PCC limited the state's No. 1-scoring offense to no points and 116 yards over the final two quarters.

Santa Ana (7-4) had a 7-game winning streak snapped and was held to its lowest points total since its first game of the season, a 21-19 loss v. Moorpark. The Dons had scored as high as 83 points in a win over Pierce, scored more than 60 three times, scored more than 50 five times, and scored more than 40 in each of their seven victories.  

The first of two huge special teams plays changed the momentum of the game toward the Lancers. Santa Ana roared into the red zone behind 53 yards of rushing in five straight carries by running back Gary Ferman. With eight minutes left in the third quarter, Santa Ana kicker Aaron Rojas lined up for a 26-yard field goal that would have given the Dons a double digits lead. PCC's all-world cornerback Kaydon Spens once again came up with a game-changing play as he made his state-leading, fifth special teams block of the season, keeping the SAC lead at seven. *note--in the first quarter, Spens blocked a punt that its forward motion continued past the line of scrimmage and rolled for a net 39 yards by SAC punter.

Field position is as big a factor than anything in football, and that became evident late in the third quarter and the start of the fourth period. With 1:24 left in the third quarter, PCC started a series on its own 7-yard line. Wentz moved PCC upfield on completions of 19 yards to Jabari Kindle and 14 to Justen Campbell. But with PCC now stalled at its 43, Wentz performed special teams play of the game part deaux--with his foot.

The sophomore signal caller, who earlier this year boomed a 70-yard punt, launched the punt of the year as his 55-yard boot coffin-cornered Santa Ana at is own 2. PCC's defense stiffened with SAC now having to punt from its 15. A short punt near midfield coupled with a personal foul penalty on Santa Ana gave the Lancers the ball at the Dons' 33. A play later, Wentz executed a reverse pitch to Campbell, who bolted 28 yards for a PCC touchdown. Contreras point after tied the game at 21-21 with nine minutes remaining.

On the next series, Santa Ana quarterback Ceasar Ayala went for broke with a bomb downfield, but safety Salah Odeh made a diving interception at the PCC 15. Things looked a bit bleak when Wentz was sacked for a 10-yard loss. But on third-and-20, Wentz rolled to his left and then caught the Dons secondary napping as Anderson caught a perfect pass near midfield and the sophomore transfer running back completed the third longest pass play in PCC football history for the winning score. It was only the fifth reception of the year for Anderson, who also scored PCC's first TD on a 4-yard run late in the first quarter. 

Ayala immediately drove Santa Ana downfield on the ensuing series. The Dons reached the PCC 21, but Spens broke up a pass, then safety Osvaldo Raigosa tackled SAC WR Arthur Shaw for just a 2-yard reception to the 19. On 4th-and-8, Michelangelo Loretto appeared to get his hand on Ayala's pass as the slight deflection forced an incompletion. 

After PCC ran the clock, Wentz punted it to midfield as the Dons had one last chance with 33 seconds left. Ayala's last chance pass was intercepted by Jalen Thornton as time ran out with the Lancers celebrating their first bowl win (and appearance) in 13 years. Wentz outplayed the state's most efficient quarterback Ayala, who finished with 228 yards and three interceptions, including Monroe's defensive touchdown. However, Ayala did pass for all three of the Dons' touchdowns. 

The Lancers defense pressured Ayala in the second half with linebackers Lucio Rodriguez (game-high nine tackles), Loretto (eight tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and two pass breakups), and Carlos Ramirez (five tackles, 3.5 behind the line of scrimmage, a sack) all leading the charge. Ramirez made three of the squad's seven quarterback hurries. Besides his block, Spens was a force in the secondary with seven tackles (six solos) and two of the team's six pass breakups. Safeties Raigosa, with eight tackles, and Roland "Kea" Rodrigues, seven tackles (1.5 for loss) and a breakup, also contributed to the second-half defensive turnaround. 

Tucker talked about how special teams proved to be so important this season. "To win consistently, our team understands that you need be locked in to special teams and to be able to play complementary football in all three phases," he said. "Blocking kicks, pinning the other team deep, winning the turnover and field position battles, being efficient on third downs and in the red zone are emphasized every day in practice.

"Kaydon blocked five kicks this season and that's a credit to his work ethic and focus on special teams. Every day in practice, he is laying out and practicing blocks at game speed. Belief is a huge part of blocking kicks and I don't think there is a guy on our team that didn't believe we were going to get a block or two in this game. Kaydon's block in the third quarter was a game changer. You could feel the momentum shift after that play."

On Wentz, Tucker said, "Kade is really a special athlete. He can throw, run, punt and placekick if we needed him. Having him punt brought us a ton of comfort because of his hang time and ability to place the ball. He had two punts that pinned them deep but the second one flipped the field, allowing the defense to pin their ears back. It made their QB uncomfortable on the next series." 

PCC BOWL NOTES: Wheeler Smith made a terrific 46-yard reception from his San Marino cohort Wentz that set up PCC's first touchdown. He finished with three catches for 62 yards...PCC did an amazing job of handling the football during a season-ending 5-game winning streak. The offense had no turnovers and the only lost fumble was on an interception return by the defense v. Grossmont. Wentz did not throw an interception over his last 98 passes and the team had none overall in its last 112 attempts...PCC also kept the penalties down with just 180 yards and 25 penalties called over the final four games of the season...In 10 games (missed one due to injury), Wentz passed for 2,188 yards (155-for-261, seven interceptions, 59.4 competion percentage) and 19 touchdowns. He is the first PCC 2,000-yard passer since Jett Even in 2015...Smith led the Lancers in receiving with 42 catches for 777 yards (18.5 yards per reception) and 7 TDs...Rodriguez (#10) led the defense with 80 tackles and seven sacks. His 17.5 tackles for 90 yards lost led the SCFA and was second in the state...Edward Norton, the 2019-2020 PCC Men's Athlete of the Year, had his role change this season but led the Lancers in rushing with 460 yards in 73 carries and six TDs...Wentz was solid as a punter with a 36.5 yards average and 10 that landed inside the opponents' 20...Contreras was a reliable kicker, making 6-for-11 on field goals and a sharp 42-for-44 extra point kicks as he led the team with 60 points. The left-footer made his final 21 extra points that covered the team's 5-game win streak...PCC is 13-4 in official bowl games, but 20-6-1 in all postseason games...The Lancers ended a 7-game losing streak in their series v. Santa Ana, and take a 21-20-4 edge in all-time meetings...Pasadena brought out a large road fan contingent that estimated between 350-400 spectactors...PCC reached the 9-win mark for the 17th time in its history, but only last done by the 2001 Mission Conference champion squad that finished 10-1.

Kaydon Spens blocked field goal

Lucio Rodriguez was a master tackler

The PCC fans were a big part of the 2021 season as they at first were unable to attend Lancers home games due to COVID-19 protocols, later lifted by the college. 
This is a shot from Santa Ana College, PCC's side.