With the spring football program in full swing, the El Camino College Warriors football team held its spring football game at Featherstone Field on Wednesday, May 29.
The game comprised of El Camino offenses and defenses pitted against each other in an effort to showcase the practices and talents that have been developing during the off-season, in preparation for fall football.
The team was led by coach Gifford Lindheim, who has been at the helm for seven full seasons and will be returning for his eighth.
“This was a great opportunity to grow,” Lindheim said. “We got a chance to have 65 to 70 live reps, which we haven’t done this spring. We’re going to get better from the experience.”
With the addition of a couple of high school athletes, Lindheim is looking to build his team for the upcoming season. Among the players who played snaps during the spring game was linebacker Kaleb McCutcheon, an incoming freshman from Manuel Dominguez High School in Compton.
McCutcheon showcased his defensive efforts by recording several tackles during the spring game, but also felt improvements can be made heading into the regular season in the fall.
“We do have to rally to the ball more, work on conditioning, because most of our guys were tired,” McCutcheon said.
Defensive coordinator Matt Kirk, who previously coached at the University of Nevada, Reno is returning to El Camino, where he served under the late John Featherstone from 2004 to 2013 as a defensive backs coach and defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach in 2015.
Kirk’s defense was the No. 1 defense in the state of California in 2009. His defense was No. 1 three times in the conference as the defensive coordinator.
Kirk praised the defense for their efforts in the secondary, which recorded a few interceptions, as well as the linebackers and linemen, who recorded several quarterback sacks.
“We were intercepting balls, we were around the ball a lot,” Kirk said. “We were rerouting receivers.”
Lindheim said among the players returning from last season, Zamir Hall, who had 31 carries for 227 rushing yards through eight games is expected to have a breakout year at the running back position. Offensive tackle Leivi Semaia, who was with the team in 2021, will also be returning this coming season.
The Warriors’ football team will be on the road for their season opener against Southwestern College in San Diego on Saturday, Sept. 7 at 6 p.m.
