The last two weeks have been a roller coaster ride in the Mission Conference for the gridiron squad.

The Warriors have endured tough games against both Riverside Oct. 18, and Fullerton Saturday.

The Riverside game was a come-from-behind win, 26-7, and the loss to Fullerton, 35-24, fell just short of a miraculous comeback.

The loss Saturday dropped the Warriors’ record to 5-2 overall and 3-2 in the Mission Conference.

Things are not going to get any easier for the Warriors as they face Pasadena Saturday on the road and then travel to Saddleback, the fourth-ranked team in California and ranked13th nationally.

“All the mistakes we have made all season finally caught up to us tonight,” Featherstone said. “Hopefully, we can learn from this and use it to beat Pasadena, and then maybe take some momentum into the Saddleback game, which will be a war.”

Against Fullerton, the Warriors dug themselves a big hole early that they could not get out of.

On Fullerton’s fourth play from scrimmage, quarterback Tom Kirchmeyer hit wide receiver Tony Zegers on a 52-yard pass play only 1:52 into the game.

“Their first touchdown set the tempo for the whole game,” said freshman lineman Sete Aulai. “After getting down by a lot early, we had to rush a lot of stuff offensively, which led to several dropped passes and penalties.”

The Warriors could only muster a field goal in the first half and trailed 14-3 at the half, as the result of dropped passes and drive-killing penalties.

The Warriors had eight penalties for 70 yards in the game.

In the second half, Warrior tailback Chris Howard fumbled the ball on the second drive. A Fullerton linebacker scooped it up and went 49 yards for the touchdown.

What looked like a blowout, however, quickly turned into tight game, as the Warriors scored 14 unanswered points in a 3:04 span over the third and fourth quarters

Running back Chris Howard scored from one yard out and the two-point conversion failed, as EC cut the lead to 21-9.

On the ensuing drive, Warrior defensive back Niegel Clement intercepted Kirchmeyer’s pass, and the Warriors took possession on their own 45.

On the second play of the drive, Matt Engle hit William Boyd down the sideline for a 53-yard touchdown, and after the successful two-point conversion the Warriors were only down five points with 14:40 left in the game.

Engle was 25-for-41 for 291 yards with two scores. Boyd caught four passes for 97 yards and one touchdown.

After a nice kick return by Fullerton, its drive sputtered around the 50 and they were forced to punt. But Fullerton surprised the Warriors with a fake punt.

Fullerton linebacker Joel Ruvalcaba then caught a pass from punter Sam Paulesco and took it 28 yards for backbreaking first down. Two plays later, Manny Gutierrez scored on a run up the middle that went 26 yards to paydirt and took all the wind out of the Warriors’ sails.

“That play broke our back. We had all the momentum on our side, and if they do punt you just know we would’ve gone down and scored,” co-offensive coordinator Fred Petersen said. “You’ve got to give their coaches a lot of credit. They made some great calls at crucial points of the ballgame.

Although trailing at halftime against Riverside 7-6, the Warriors used a strong defensive effort to prevail in the second half and win handily, 26-7.

“Defensively, we want to make sure everyone knows where they’re supposed to be, and they play with the aggressiveness the college game demands,” coach John Featherstone said after the victory over Riverside. “Tonight I think our defense had that.”

Matt Engle threw two touchdown passes in the second half.

The first touchdown was a three-yard out pattern to LaFerrel Payne that put the Warriors up for good, 12-7. The next touchdown came on a lofting, fadeaway pass down the left side to Joe Kensey, who caught it over his shoulder for a 15-yard score to put the game out of reach, 19-7.

Late in the fourth quarter, Chris Howard made the final points with a 6-yard run up the middle.

“On offense, I think Matt did a great job of spreading the ball around, but we still had some big dropped passes,” Featherstone said. “I think once these younger guys learn our system and just exactly what it takes to play college ball, we’re going to be scary.”

The special teams also performed well against Riverside.

In the first half, the Warriors used a strong performance by punter Matt Dragich, who twice put the ball inside the 5, averaging 44 yards per punt. For his efforts Dragich was named Mission Conference special teams player of the week.

; PIn the second half, defensive back Steven Akarim blocked a punt and a field goal to break open a close game and give the Warriors the momentum needed to win.

“Our special teams really were the heroes for us tonight,” Featherstone said.

“Everyone on our special teams did a great job and was the reason we got this win against a tough team.”