El Camino can’t move the ball enough to threaten Riverside
Team Stats
| Game Statistics | El Camino | Riverside |
|---|---|---|
| Passing Yards | 247 | 207 |
| Rushing Yards | -3 | 263 |
| Turnovers | 4 | 2 |
| Time of Poss. | 33:27 | 26:33 |
For a half, the El Camino College football team (2-3, 0-2) hung with the eighth-ranked Riverside City College by playing tough defense, but in the second half the wheels fell off for the Warriors as Riverside scored 21 second-half points to take home a 31-7 National Central League victory Saturday night Wheelock Stadium.
"We had our chances tonight and we just did not capitalize on them," El Camino coach John Featherstone said. "We have five more conference games left, we just have to believe in ourselves and make the big plays when we need them. Riverside did that tonight and that's why they won the game."
After Riverside (3-1, 1-0) took an early 7-0 lead on a 15-yard interception return for a touchdown by A.J. Hotchkins, the Warriors returned the favor as Lionel Kendrick picked off a Kelly Helinski pass and took it 55 yards for a touchdown to tie the score at 7 with 4:35 left in the second quarter.
With Riverside leading 10-7 the Tigers put together a 66-yard drive behind back-up quarterback Nicholas King, who was inserted into the game to start the third quarter. King ran for 44 yards on the drive, his last 15 yards got Riverside into the end zone, putting them up 17-7 less than three minutes into the second half.
Riverside took a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter when El Camino tried a quarterback switch of their own, inserting Jorge Hernandez, and it looked like it would pay immediate dividends as Hernandez led the Warriors downfield 82 yards, setting them up at the two yard line. However, Hernandez was hit on the four yard line on a run play and he coughed the ball up and the Tigers' Miki Fangatua scooped it up and returned it 86 yards for a momentum-crushing touchdown and a 31-7 commanding lead for Riverside with 11:19 to play.
"That play took the wind out of our sails for sure," El Camino defensive back Michael Jurado said. "We just got to come together as a team and play hard for these last five games. Losing doesn't sit well with me especially since I know we are better than we have played."
El Camino never reached midfield the rest of the way as they remain winless in league with five games to play. In total, El Camino had four turnovers, two of which were returned for touchdowns, and had 74 yards in penalties, which actually was an improvement from previous games.
"Our defense kept us in the game early, but we could never get anything going offensively," said Notch, who missed last week's game with a concussion. "We will get better, we just have to work hard in practice, be critical of ourselves and learn from our mistakes, which I think we will do over the last five games."