El Camino’s freshman kicker, Nathan Hierlihy, calmly walked on the field in the fourth quarter with the score tied at 20-20.

Hierlihy, who had tied the game about three minutes earlier with a 44-yard field goal, kicked a 48-yarder for the game winner, sending the Warriors to a 23-20 conference win over Citrus College on Saturday.

“I just stayed focused and did what I have to do,” Hierlihy said. “I felt good going into the kick. The strength is not the problem, it’s the accuracy.”

The Warriors’ defense had a stellar game, recording 11 sacks and holding Citrus’ quarterback Brian Meyette to 65 passing yards. On the second to last drive of the game for Citrus, El Camino sophomore defensive end Taniela Lolohea sacked Mayette three times to end the comeback hopes for the Owls.

“I just focused on beating the man in front of me and getting to the quarterback as fast as possible,” Lolohea said. “I got the first sack and I just did the same thing on the other two.”

Citrus led 17-3 in the second quarter before freshman wide receiver Dajuan Parham a Venice High School alumni, took the handoff on a reverse and juked his way to a 27-yard touchdown.

A five-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Jorge Hernandez to freshman wide receiver Russell Shaw evened the score at 17-17 going into halftime.

“Everybody is on the same page and we are becoming to be a football team,” Coach John Featherstone said. “I’m glad they won a game like this on the road.”

Citrus had one last chance at a comeback, but freshman defensive back Darious Flowers intercepted Nolan Brammer with the clock winding down to seal the victory for the Warriors.

Sophomore linebacker Azizullah Fifita led the defense with a sack and 10 tackles. Lolohea added seven tackles and three and a half sacks to his team’s stats.

Freshman wide receiver William Morehand caught six passes for 108 yards.

“Our defense is full of players that can get up the field fast,” Featherstone said. “We are only gonna get better.”

The Warriors will host Riverside City College on Oct.3 at Redondo Union High School. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.