With 37 seconds remaining in the game, safety Eric Taylor’s 59-yard interception for a touchdown sealed the deal for the Warriors, gaining a 41-16 victory over Riverside College on Saturday night in Murdock Stadium.
The Warriors next game is Saturday at Chaffey College at 6 p.m. in Grigsby Field. The Panthers come into this game with a 2-2 record on the season.
“Chaffey is a dangerous team to be playing now,” coach John Featherstone said. “They have been consistent in every game they have played in so far.”
The Warriors do not worry about playing at another college and how their fans will react.
“Well, we have been on the road before. We went to L.A. Southwest and then EC Compton, so this is our third road trip and it’s only an hour away,” Featherstone said. “It’s not a real long bus drive and the team will be fired up over there and we really don’t worry about a hostile environment.”
Quarterback Matt Simms did not have as good of a performance as he did last week, but he still managed to finish 17 for 35 for 220 yards and a touchdown throw and improved his performance in the second half.
“Yeah, Simms was a little off his game, but you will make mistakes. That is why you run and pass. The run was effective this week although the pass was not as effective last week,” Featherstone said.
“Simms struggled a little bit; he struggled in the first-half, but we picked it up in the second half and he was able to complete throws and get more into a rhythm,” quarterback coach Matt Engle said.
With the offense not playing a good game, coach Featherstone talked to his team and told them at halftime let’s go to “Plan B.”
“I told the team to go back to the ground game and take them off their heels again and we did and it took them nine plays to score and we know we would run the clock from there,” Featherstone said.
The Warriors had 445 yards of offense, including 225 on the ground and 220 through the air.
On offense, running back Ken Ashley had 124 yards on 19 carries and two rushing touchdowns and running back Tony Sekona had 33 yards on two receptions and a touchdown.
The defense was once again dominant. They had a forced fumble by line backer Bilal Muhammad and safety Eric Taylor had an interception for a touchdown late in the game.
“Defense played a great game but missed a couple of tackles in the first-half,” Featherstone said. “But they where good in the second-half,” Featherstone said. “They are our back bone of the team.”
“We didn’t start out as fast as we wanted in the first-half and then we picked it up and we started to executed on our assignments,” Taylor said. “We felt like we finished off well.”
On defense, defensive end Daniel Stewart had seven tackles, two sacks, two tackles for a lost, a deflection, a recovered fumble, and two big hits and Taylor had eight tackles, a forced fumble, one big hit and an interception resulting in a touchdown.
Featherstone said he doesn’t believe his team can win a game if his offense or defense struggle and they will need it this weekend on the road.
“Yeah, realistically every week you have to have a good performance from offense and defense to win football games, sometimes you can have one side of the ball play horrible and still win,” Featherstone said.