Football season didn’t begin the way that El Camino fans had hoped for, as the Warriors fell to Riverside Community College on Saturday 34-7. Despite the loss, the young team showed signs of growth and hopes to parlay that into success this season.

“Were gonna go hard all week in practice,” sophomore wide receiver Trevon Clark said. “We know that this is just a bump in the road and we will be fine.”

The Tigers (1-0) started out on fire, scoring on a three play, 75-yard drive that was capped off by a Malik Walker 25-yard touchdown run. After a punt by the Warriors on the first drive, Riverside would immediately go on a 99-yard drive to make the game 13-0 early in the first quarter. El Camino (0-1) would recover, however, not allowing another point until midway through the third quarter. The fact that the Warriors defense shut the Tigers out for 25 minutes straight, provides optimism for the rest of the season.

“I think it took us a couple drives to get going, but once we settled in we were pretty good,” ECC head coach Gifford Lindheim said. “We had four or five plays where I felt like we could get back in there, but for whatever reason we just couldn’t get going.”

The Warriors weren’t able to move the ball as effectively through the air as they had hoped, as sophomore quarterback Aaron Thomas averaged just under 5-yards per completion for the game and also threw an interception. Freshman quarterback Grant Ferrauilo also played, but did not fare much better as he was just three of five for 2-yards. El Camino would score their lone touchdown on an 8-yard run by freshman running back Shawn Prejean early in the fourth quarter. By then it was too late, though, as the Tigers has already built an insurmountable lead. Riverside would finish with a whopping 295 rushing yards and 5-yards per carry.

“It sucks to get scored on,” sophomore linebacker Jaymin Austin said. “But the biggest thing is having that discipline so it cant happen again. We need to use this as a learning lesson and go into Bakersfield with the upper hand and be physical.”

The Renegades will be El Camino’s second straight quality opponent to start the year, providing yet another measuring stick for the young and hungry squad. That game takes place Saturday, September 8 at Memorial Stadium in Bakersfield. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. P.S.T.