Vikings’ football team feel optimistic after  23-21 loss

The Vikings football team fell short against Allan Hancock College with a final score of 23-21 on Saturday. 

By half-time, The Vikings and Allan were tied 7-7 with a touchdown from Vikings’ wide receiver Owen Tomich.

“Definitely feels like we let one get away. I still got to process it, but definitely a winnable game that we could have won” Head Coach Marques Cooper said.

The Vikings took the lead after wide receiver Steewell Leboucher scored his first touchdown of his college career, putting the Vikings up 14-7.

^{Steewell Leboucher, wide receiver, gets lifted by offensive lineman Adrian Vichot after Leboucher scores his first college career touchdown. The Vikings lost 23-21 to Allan Hancock College at Veterans Memorial Stadium at Long Beach City College in Long Beach, California on Saturday. (Bella Schultz)}

“Scoring always feels great, especially when it’s your first college career touchdown, but, I still want more and will work to earn it,” Leboucher said.

In the fourth quarter, Ike White scored a touchdown leading the team to a 21-23 game.

“I think you stay grounded because this was a close game, so it wasn’t a game that was away from us. We’ve been in all our games so the way we stay together is just knowing that we got to get better because we got to clean up turnovers and different things like that,” Cooper said.

Quarterback Allen Fernett also spoke about the team’s performance.

“The way we started off the game was very strong just because my coaches always talk about starting off the game that way. I was really proud of the way we started off, now we just gotta execute like that every drive,” Fernett said.

“Personally, win or lose I will be working to improve my game. So the results don’t affect me in that regard,” Leboucher said.

Leboucher also added, “It is frustrating, no objections on that, but I know we have the talent to bounce back and finish the season in a strong matter,’’ when asked about how he personally stays motivated and keeps improving after a tough game.

The Vikings are set to play their next game Saturday at 6 p.m. at Citrus College. The Vikings’ homecoming game will be on Oct. 18 at 3 p.m. at Long Beach City College vs. Santa Ana College.