Despite a solid defensive performance by the Warriors, they could not stop Mt. San Antonio College running back Sateki Finau from scoring on a 2-yard touchdown run in the final minute to help the Mounties give El Camino a 23-7 loss last Saturday at Murdock Stadium.
El Camino head coach Gifford Lindheim said despite their defensive performance in its second conference game, their struggle to score was why they lost.
“I don’t think we played great on offense,” Lindheim said. “There were times that I think we were really close to sparking. Obviously, you can’t turn the ball over against great football teams and we did.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Mt. SAC took a 7-0 lead when the Mounties blocked an El Camino punt and Jeremy Caldwell recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.
Mt. SAC quarterback Anfernee Bruton threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Trejo to extend the lead, 14-0, in the second quarter.
El Camino freshman running back Donovan Davis scored on a 14-yard touchdown run to cut the lead, 14-7, with just under a minute left in the first half.
Former El Camino coach John Featherstone said for most of the game the score remained close and could have gone either way.
“You take away two or three of those turnovers and they were right in the hunt,” Featherstone said. “It’s a young team and it can take a little while for them to believe in themselves.”
The Mounties added a safety and Sateki Finau scored on a 2-yard touchdown run to put the game out of reach.
Davis finished with 72 yards rushing on 10 carries and a touchdown.
“When we connect all together, we won’t have any problems beating teams this season,” Davis said. “Tonight, we were not executing anything, but I wished we could have scored on turnovers.”
