In its home football opener on Sept. 14, the El Camino Warriors were handed its first loss of the season by the visiting Palomar Comets, who walked off Featherstone Field with a 14-10 win.
Despite a slow start in the first half of the game, what would have been a touchdown reception in the second half was a moment that led to the Comets taking home their first win of the season.
“I thought we were going to win the game,” Warriors coach Gifford Lindheim said. “At a bunch of different moments in the game.”
One of those moments was a 48-yard pass from Warriors wide receiver Elijah Holmes who connected with Takim Raye-Brown Jr. into the endzone for a touchdown, with one minute and 33 seconds to go in the fourth quarter at the Palomar 48-yard line.
The touchdown, however, was negated after an illegal forward pass committed by Hall placed the Warriors at the El Camino 44-yard line.
A few possessions earlier, Jonathon Meyers of the Comets lined up at the El Camino 32-yard line for a field goal attempt, but was later blocked by defensive lineman Reuben Leiatauo of the Warriors, which led to an El Camino recovery at their 10-yard-line.
Leiatauo recorded half a sack and a tackle for a loss of five yards for the night.
Comets’ coach Joe Early acknowledged that despite his team’s win, adjustments needed to be made.
“We told them [team] we got to keep fighting,” Early said. “We knew they were going to come after our field goal, but it showed some deficiencies that we got to clean up on.”
Palomar came up short a week earlier in their season opener in a 17-16 loss to Moorpark at home, but Early feels a win against the Warriors is a momentum builder in their Sept. 21 clash against College of the Canyons.
“I told our players it’s really hard to win up here at El Camino,” Early added. “This is a really good win for us because they are such a tough team, they’re so athletic.”
With nine minutes and 35 second to go in the first quarter, Comets defensive back Mason Thomas intercepted an Aidan Semo pass on first down and 15-yards to go, running it back 41-yards for a touchdown.
Semo, who completed seven passes on 20 passing attempts and one interception drew the start at quarterback, but was replaced by Tyler Karen.
Karen recorded 20 pass completions out of 36 attempts, for 212 yards for the night.
Comets’ freshman quarterback KJ Chatham recorded nine pass completions out of 23 attempts. One of those passes went to sophomore wide receiver Skai Donnell for a 66-yard touchdown pass with six minutes and 55 seconds in the second quarter.
Chatham threw a 22-yard pass to Ayden Billups, setting up an opportunity for running back Christian Hall to score from the goal line, but was met with a Ky’yin Arrington forced fumble at the one-yard line, leading to a recovery by the Warriors.
The freshman quarterback said moving the ball consistently was key to getting the Comets to walk off the field with a win.
“We had to take shots,” Chatham said. “We had a rough time driving down the field, but we were able to get some big plays.”
Offensively for the Warriors’, running back Zamir Hall, who scored a touchdown in a Sept. 7 matchup against Southwestern, recorded 20 carries for 80-yards that included a 27-yard run, which was his longest run of the night.
He credited the offensive line in creating opportunities for the Warriors’ ground attack, led by running backs Marcus Higgs and Azeon Nelson, and Hall.
The running back by committee combined for 201 rushing yards for the night, including a two-yard touchdown run by Nelson.
“They [offensive line] did their thing. They’re in the weight room,” Hall said. “They work everyday. Our offensive line coach, they’re wonderful.”
The Warriors defense was led by Rashad Lawrence, recording 10 tackles and two sacks.
El Camino will host the Riverside Tigers on Saturday, Sept. 21 at Featherstone Field.
