The Warriors just couldn’t get it done right.
Late in the third quarter, wide receiver Andre Buford waited for a punt return only to fumble and have Grossmont recover it, changing the momentum of the game.
That turned out to be a big play for the Griffins, who beat the Warriors 27-22 in the 2009 Beach Bowl on Saturday Nov. 21.
This was the second straight loss for the Warriors, after last week’s 42-28 lost to Cerritos College, putting them out of the playoffs.
“It’s never fun ending the season on a lost and it doesn’t happen that often around here,” coach John Featherstone said.
“I’m really disappointed that I couldn’t do anything about it,” running back Tony Sekona said.
The Warriors first touchdown was a fumble recovery, ran 84 yards for a touchdown.
Punter Troy Gravett’s punt was blocked by Grossmomt linebacker Derek Holsapple and recovered by linebacker Keven Woods, who ran 23 yards to the EC 3-yard line.
“We took too long to kick it and we just took too much time,” Featherstone said.
After a 7-yard touchdown by running back Jeremy Tucker, Featherstone decided to go for a 2-point conversion, but it failed.
“We thought we had a real good play designed to get two points and pretty much the story of the whole season, we didn’t convert it and we had to go for two a second time and didn’t convert it and that hurt us losing those two extra points,” Featherstone said.
In the second quarter, safety Eric Taylor would block a 40-yard field goal by placekicker Troy Muenzer.
“We made enough play’s (on defense) to win the game,” Featherstone said.
The Warriors where outscored 17-7 in the fourth quarter, turning a 15-10 lead to a 27-15 deficit with 5 minutes to go in the game.
“We didn’t make the play’s and we had a couple of droped balls,” Featherstone said.
The Warriors had 230 yards of offense, including 66 yards on the ground and 164 through the air.
Quarterback Bo Napoleon went 17-37 for 164 yards and a touchdown, but was sacked four times.
Tucker had 44 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown.
Wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins had eight catches for 88 yards and a touchdown.
On defense, Terrance Williams was named the Beach Bowl Defensive Player of the game with seven tackles and two forced fumbles and a touchdown.
The Warriors will send four player’s to the Southern California Football Association All-Conference team, the following player’s are on the list: wide receiver Thompkins, cornerback Mike Harris, defensive line Daniel Stewart and center Kyle McManus.