COALINGA – Quarterback Logan Johnson tossed 3 touchdown passes while Porter Needs had 126 receiving yards but Coalinga College couldn't hold a halftime lead and suffered a 37-24 non-league loss to visiting De Anza College on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

"I thought we played well," said Coalinga head coach Justin Berna. "We played a good game, but against a solid team like De Anza, we had to play great to win."

The Falcons were feeling good early in the second quarter. De Anza jumped out in front first, 7-0, midway through the first quarter before Coalinga responded with 17 unanswered points.

Johnson and Needs connected for a 50-yard touchdown pass, Mario Delgado booted a 31-yard field goal, and Johnson threw a 16-yard TD to Semaj Wickem to put the Falcons ahead 17-7 at the 10:53 mark in the second quarter.

De Anza closed out the second with a touchdown and field goal, but the Falcons still clung to a 17-16 advantage at halftime.

But the second half belonged to De Anza. Mountain Lions' quarterback Antevious Jackson threw a pair of TDs and ran in for another to put the game out of reach at 37-17 late in the fourth.

Johnson closed the Falcons' scoring with a 5-yard TD pass to Demarion Wright with 1:55 left in the contest, but the 20-point deficit was too much to overcome.

"We had too many penalties and made some costly mistakes in the second half," said Berna. "We needed to play great in the third and fourth quarter and we just didn't."

Johnson completed 19 of 29 passes for 220 yards with 3 TDs and 1 interception. Needs was his top target, hauling in 6 receptions for 126 yards and a touchdown. Wickem also had 5 catches for 47 yards and a TD.

Trey Cooks led Coalinga on the ground, rushing 15 times for 81 yards.

Jackson Kissee led the Falcons' defense with 8 tackles. Coalinga got sacks from Derrick Taylor and Brandon Darden while Eric Gallegos had an interception.

The loss dropped Coalinga to 1-2 overall. The Falcons will look to get back on track next Saturday (Oct. 5) when they open American Golden Coast League play at Merced College. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.