As the team gathered around to hear coach John Featherstone give his post-game speech, there was a sense of relief and confidence in the air that had been missing from this squad.

The Warriors could have hung their heads down after coming off a 3-7 season and a deflating Week 1 loss to Palomar but they remained resilient and bounced back with a huge 51-27 victory over the visiting Allan Hancock College on Saturday.

“Huge win for us,” Featherstone said. “Last year we went up there and they whooped us so our kids remembered that. They were ready to win.”

There was no place like home for EC (1-1) as they were in desperate need of an uplifting performance to build upon and that’s exactly what they got against Hancock (0-2).

The Warrior offense racked up 501 yards and was able to find a consistent balance between the run and passing game thanks to a much improved performance by the offensive line.

“We’ve got some big boys up there,” freshman running back Raphael Lawson-Gayle said. “They opened up big holes for us.”

Sophomore quarterback Cole Webb went 21 of 29 as he threw for 286 yards, three touchdowns, one interception and led the team with 76 yards on the ground as he caused fits for the Hancock defense throughout the entire night.

“When he flushes out of there he can run,” Featherstone said. “As soon as he started running tonight, they [Hancock] didn’t know what to do.”

EC got off to an early 17-7 lead in the first quarter but soon found themselves playing catch up as consecutive touchdowns by Hancock put the Bulldogs up 27-24 in the third quarter.

Although that would be the last time Hancock scored as the Warriors rattled of 27 unanswered points to put the game away for good.

“Receivers were catching everything, getting open for me and the running game was phenomal,” Webb said. “I get the easy part. I just sit back and throw the ball up.”

First, freshman running back Martin Booker punched in a 2-yard run for the score after the Warriors marched down the field to regain the lead 31-27; the defense then forced Hancock to punt which led to Webb hooking up with sophomore wide receiver Ross Stribling for the 17-yard touchdown and giving EC a 38-27 lead.

In what would prove to be the nail in the coffin, the defense came up huge on the following series as sophomore defensive lineman Terrance Haynes made a tackle that forced Hancock to turn it over on downs.

“We knew they were a running team so we weren’t expecting all that passing but we got after the quarterback and the defensive line did a good job tonight,” sophomore linebacker Kristopher Bass said.

This was the final time EC would spend it’s home opener in Murdock Stadium because of the demolition set to take place following this season; the new stadium was originally scheduled to start construction this year but plans were postponed due to rejection of the original designs.

The Warriors will host Pasadena City College next this Saturday, Sept. 21, at 6 p.m. before opening up conference play.

“We’ve got a pretty mature football team. They understand it’s a 60-minute game,” Featherstone said. “We’re going to take it one game at a time and just try to continue to win.”