At Murdock Stadium Saturday, the Warriors ended the first quarter against College of the Desert without smiles on their faces. Coach John Featherstone was yelling at quarterback Jimmy Coy after the Warriors were duped by a fake and allowed a touchdown. The defense could not stop the running game and halfway through the first quarter, EC was down 13-0 to the Roadrunners.
“(Coy) flushed the pocket and kind of threw the ball in the ground, which was not very good. We had a penalty on one of the receivers for holding and they gained a big run,” assistant coach Gene Engle said. “They were just kind of miscues.”
The Warriors settled down and re-grouped to defeat the Roadrunners 41-13, which was EC’s seventh straight victory. The Roadrunners did not score after the first quarter.
College of the Desert is now 5-2 overall and 2-1 in their conference. EC is now 3-0 in conference play.
The Warriors have a bye this weekend, but will be preparing for their next opponent in Mt. San Antonio College. Mt. SAC is ranked No. 1 in the nation and has a 6-0 record. The game, which takes place Nov. 1 at Mt. SAC, will be the Warriors most challenging of the season and one of the defining games of the National Division’s Central Conference.
In the College of the Desert game, Warrior wide receiver Kembrell Thompkins ran a post pattern to catch a 49-yard pass and dove to score the Warriors first touchdown at the end of the first quarter. He went on to score another touchdown to take the lead away from the Roadrunners in the second quarter. Thompkins finished with eight catches for 141 yards and two touchdowns.
“I just kept my focus. I mean I came into the game and just looked every ball in,” said Thompkins. “(Coy) took the opportunity when looking my way. He played the best game of the season so far. In my eyes, he is the best quarterback in junior college football.”
For College of the Desert, mistakes defined the game. The biggest mistake happened at the end of the second quarter, when Warrior cornerback Michael Harris blocked a punt and returned it in for a touchdown. The Warrior’s defense came from the edge to pinch the punter, who had no chance of getting the kick off. This took the heart out of the Roadrunners.
College of the Desert could not complete passes and had trouble running its offense throughout the game. With 4:33 left in the second quarter, the Roadrunners decided to go for a touchdown when they also had the option of kicking a field goal. They completed the pass, but came up short of the first down, which left the score at 13-10.
Conversely, the Warriors redeemed themselves by going to the air. EC gained a season-high 344 yards passing. Coy completed 22 out of 32 passes for two touchdowns and no interceptions.
“The linemen blocked well and the receivers made some nice plays and got open pretty much all night,” Coy said.
In every quarter, EC possessed the ball longer than the Roadrunners, and in the fourth quarter held the ball for nearly 11 minutes. EC also went to its kicker numerous times. Brian Blumberg kicked two field goals, had one blocked and missed another.
Defensively, the Warriors had a difficult time stopping the run. The Roadrunners gained 158 yards on 37 carries on the ground, as compared to 104 yards on 35 carries for the Warriors.
The Warrior defense did have its moments. Roadrunner quarterback Thomas DeMarco had a pass dropped, which fell right into the hands of Warrior safety Eric Taylor for an interception. The following drive ended with another touchdown for the Warriors.
“It’s going to be a war, it’s always been a war. Every year we play (Mt. SAC) it has been a really tough battle,” Engle said. “We need to play the best game of our year to beat them, but we’re very capable of doing it.”
