El Camino lost its offensive leader, sophomore quarterback Jorge Hernandez, when he was sacked on the first possession of the game. Freshman quarterback Brent Boehm stepped in and passed for 240 yards and two touchdowns, but it was not enough as the Warriors fell to Riverside City College 42-21 at Redondo Union High School on Saturday. The Warriors fall to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in conference.

“It hurts our momentum, losing Jorge,” coach John Featherstone said. “Good thing we have two back ups who can step in and do the job.”

Riverside led 14-0 in the second quarter after two touchdown runs by Chris Anderson and Dontel James. The Warriors cut the lead, 14-7, on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Boehm to freshman wide receiver William Morehand.

After back-to-back touchdowns by the Tigers, El Camino capped a 7-play 65-yard drive with a 22-yard touchdown reception by freshman wide receiver Russell Shaw. The Warriors trailed 28-14 at halftime.

“They played like Warriors, they didn’t give up and I was proud of them,” assistant coach Andrew Alvillar said. “I anticipate a really strong finish.”

Freshman running back Gabriel Villarreal scored from a yard out to bring the Warriors within seven, the score 28-21 going in to the fourth quarter.

Riverside quarterback Kevin Olson found wide receiver Jordan Brewer for a 5-yard touchdown, putting the Tigers ahead 35-21. Running back Dontel James added a 3-yard touchdown run, putting the game out of reach for El Camino at the final score of 42-21.

“I wanted to win the game, knowing they were the No.1 team in Cali but we fell short,” defensive lineman Austin Vaimili said. “There were plenty of mistakes we had and losing our starting quarterback in the beginning of the game was big, but Brent Boehm stepped up and played his best.”

The Warriors are back in action when they travel to Cerritos College for a Central League contest on Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.