Despite setbacks, such as the recent trancript forgery and the loss of key players, the Warrior football team looks to improve on its 8-3 record a season ago.
“We have to work on our weaknesses,” quarterback Don Poole said. “As a team, we just have to adjust the things we did wrong last year that cost us games.”
EC hopes to rebound after an early exit in the first round of the playoffs last season, in which it lost to College of the Canyons, who went on to win the football national championship at the community college level I.
The Warriors finished last season with an overall 8-3 record, 3-2 record in the division, second in the Mission Conference and fifth overall in the state. Repeating such outstanding statistics might be difficult for the team since it lost key players on offense and defense.
The defense was affected the most with the departures of cornerbacks Steve Akarim and Clavens Charles; defensive ends Rick Talonoa and Delvondre Gardner; linebackers Kasey Sitchler and Keti Taufoou; as well as strong safety Reggie Doucet.
“I lost my boys,” Nate Ness, free safety, said. “Last year I was the supporter and they were the big dawgs.”
“I’m the big dawg now, so there’s a lot on my shoulders and now I have to help carry the defense.”
Last year, Ness led the Mission Conference with seven interceptions which tied him for seventh all-time in Mission Conference football, and tied him for the longest interception return (100-yards) in Mission Conference history.
The recruiting class has been looking good so far for the Warriors, as they are getting top prospects from high schools and colleges ranging from North Torrance High, Redondo High, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Chaffey, and even two players from Detroit and Florida.
“On offense, we have some really fine players who are being looked at by almost all the Pacific-10 conference colleges,” Featherstone said.
The offense has been receiving so much buzz lately that it even caught the attention of USC coaches Pete Carroll, coach Lane Kiffin, offensive coordinator and Steve Sarkisian, quarterbacks coach, who visited the team during practice a few weeks ago.
Sarkisian is familiar with Warriors football having set many records as a quarterback for EC during his 1993 and 1994 campaign, records that still haven’t been matched to this date.
“We have a lot of young, great athletes on defense, but our strength is going to have to be on the offense, so we’re going to definitely have to deliver,” Poole said.
Poole led the offense last year, having a passer rating of 145.9 and completing 124 of 228 passes. He also threw for 2,055 yards and 17 touchdowns.
Returning running back Brian Flowers Jr., will be a huge asset to the offense; last year he carried the ball 132 times for 681 yards. Flowers averaged 5.2 yards per carry while averaging 68.1 yards per game.
“We have a nice nucleus on offense coming back if we can stay healthy; what we don’t have is a lot of depth,” Featherstone said.
The team lost Lafarell Payne, Mike Sanford and Nick Haley, who was also the team’s punt returner, as well as center Aaron Sapien.
Despite losing players, the team is confident about the upcoming season.
“This team is better than last year. We’ve got too much talent to let it go to waste,” Ness said. “With this group of freshmen and sophomores, we’ll definitely bring home the conference championship.”
