As the El Camino football team gathered up following a loss to Citrus College, there was a certain look amongst the players. It was the look of a team that had been beaten, but not defeated.

The Warriors (5-4) lost to the Cougars (5-3) 42-28 Saturday at Citrus Stadium in a match between two top ten teams in the state.

Win, and they’re in a bowl game. Lose, and the season is over.

“We jumped off to that big lead and if we would have just shut the door, the game may have been over,” coach John Featherstone said.

The Warriors got off two a fast start and quickly gained a 13-0 lead thanks to a 61-yard pass from freshman quarterback Aaron Shockey to sophomore wide receiver Michael Thompson and a 9-yard run from freshman running back Kendell Sparks.

Shockey had his best game of the season, going 11-27 for 235 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

“Every week is a progression,” Shockey said. “It’s a tough loss but we all did something right but there’s a lot of easy things we need to fix.”

Trailing for the first time at home all year, the Cougars responded by scoring on their next four consecutive drives to take a 29-13 lead.

The Warriors refused to go down without a fight as Shockey once again found Thompson for a 51-yard touchdown pass to make it 29-21 following a successful two-point conversion.

The Warriors fought hard but could not close the gap with the Cougars. Every time one team would score, the other would respond with a score of their own.

“I told the kids you’ve got your hands full,” Featherstone said. “But they didn’t quit and came out and played another two quarters like they’re coached to be.”

The defense, which has performed strong throughout the year, found itself having a difficult time containing the Cougar offense. Giving up 335 yards through the air as well as 132 on the ground.

Although one bright spot on defense was the performance of sophomore linebacker Kristopher Bass, who broke the EC record for most tackles in a game with 21.

“We had some dumb penalties that killed us but the defense played well,” Bass said.

With this loss, the Warriors are now forced to win their last game against Mt. SAC if they want any chance of making the postseason.

The Warriors will play at Mt. San Antonio this Saturday at 1 p.m.

“We don’t have anything to lose so we’re just going to give it everything we’ve got and finish the season with a bang,” freshman running back Raphael Lawson-Gayle said.