In order to win football games, you must put points on the board, which is what EC failed to do last Saturday night on the road.

For the first time this season, the Warriors were held scoreless through four quarters as College of the Canyons, 21-0, eliminated them from the playoffs.

The victory over EC not only advanced the Cougars to the next round of the playoffs, but also kept their 27-home game-winning streak alive, as they have not lost at Canyons Stadium since 1999.

EC’s scoreless performance marks the first shut out loss in a postseason game since coach John Featherstone took over in 1985.

“There’s been talk that we lost because our offense didn’t perform the other night,” Featherstone said. “But there’s been a bunch of games in which our offense has come back to win it for us when our defense hasn’t played well.”

The defense, however, came out sharp as they were able to slow down Canyons’ offense despite allowing an early first quarter rushing touchdown.

Canyons came into Saturday’s battle averaging nearly 40 points per game, but the Warriors defense managed to hold the Cougars high scoring offense for three and a half quarters as they only allowed seven points.

EC’s defensive backs Reggie Doucet and Clavens Charles helped keep the Warriors in the game as they intercepted passes from the Cougars’ quarterback. Defensive linemen Rick Talanoa and Jason Miller also contributed with a quarterback sack of their own.

The Cougars passing game was kept at a season low against EC, as they gathered 161 yards through the air with no touchdowns. Before heading into the fourth quarter, the Warriors destroyed the opposition’s running game by allowing them to rush for a mere 53 yards.

In the third quarter alone, the Warriors defense allowed 31 yards on 1-of-5 passing attempts, and stopped Canyons running game as they carried the ball five times for negative three yards.

EC’s defense played hard but fell apart in the fourth quarter when they began struggling to stop the Cougars’ offense, allowing 91 rushing yards on 19 carries for a combined 137 yards on the ground with two touchdowns.

Canyons’ offense tired the EC defense as they attacked and pummeled the Warriors for 32 long minutes.

“We’re a well conditioned football team,” Featherstone said. “It felt as if they scored those last two touchdowns not because we were tired, but because our defense had been fighting and scratching all game that they lost a bit of their spirit.”

The Warriors offense was not able to wake up as they were held to 165 yards of total offense.

EC left its high-paced offense at home turning the ball over twice and allowing six quarterback sacks. They were penalized on nine separate occasions for 73 yards, three of those penalties coming on the teams’ last drive.

EC quarterback Don Poole had one of his worst outings, completing 9 of his 26 passes for 105 yards with one interception.

Running back Brian Flowers had a mediocre day with 13 carries for only 51 yards.

“We just, unfortunately, never got on track offensively,” Featherstone said. “We’ve been better than average all year, we had a good game plan going in, but we didn’t execute very well.”

“It was a combination of us not executing and Canyons playing great defense,” he added.

With the season coming to a halt, Featherstone and the Warriors feel as if they leave behind a proud and productive season.

They ranked second in the Mission Conference, fifth in the state, and have had two winning seasons.

The only setback for this Warrior team was ruining a perfect 7-0 start by losing three of its last four games, two at home, and finishing with a 3-2 record in the division, 8-3 overall.

The Warriors had an up-and-down season despite having had two great come-from-behind victories, one at Cerritos and one against Fullerton.

EC encountered two devastating overtime losses against Pasadena and Saddleback causing the team to lose homefield advantage.

The loss at home against Saddleback, still haunts the Warriors. A win over the Gauchos could have landed EC a No.1 seed, hosting Mt. SAC in the first round of the playoffs as opposed to being the seventh seed and playing on the road.

“We were a couple plays from being undefeated and having home field advantage throughout the playoffs,” Featherstone said. “What can I say, it has been a season of extreme highs and lows.”