Fourth-Quarter Flurry Comes Up Short for Warriors against Riverside

TORRANCE, Calif. – Trailing by double digits late in the final quarter No. 16 El Camino College mounted a furious comeback but came up just short, falling to No. 2 Riverside 45-42 in a National Central Conference contest Saturday afternoon at Murdock Stadium.

The Warriors (4-4, 1-2) trailed by 17 points with 6:02 left in the ballgame but scored 14 straight points in the span of 51 seconds to cut the deficit to three.

Following a nine-yard touchdown scramble from Tigers (8-0, 3-0) quarterback Vic Viramontes that made it 45-28 Riverside, the Warriors mounted a six-play, 70-yard scoring drive that was capped off by a 44-yard touchdown pass from Aaron Thomas to Trevon Clark.

The Warriors then recovered an onside kick at the 50 and went the distance in four plays. Quarterback Cole Klayman culminated the drive with a 46-yard touchdown run on 4th-down and 6 after getting flushed out of the pocket. Klayman sprinted up the middle of the field and was not touched until he got inside the 5-yard line, where he was knocked in to the end zone by the Tigers defenders for a touchdown.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Warriors appeared to recover yet another onside kick but were called for fair-catch interference, nullifying the recovery and giving the Tigers the ball at the ECC 42. From there, the Tigers picked up a first down and were able to run down the clock to escape with a win.

Klayman finished the day with 220 passing yards along with 51 rushing yards for the Warriors in a losing effort. Stephon Robinson led all receivers with eight catches for 145 yards as the Warriors accumulated 332 yards in the air.

But Tigers quarterback Viramontes helped carry the Tigers to victory, going 7-for-12 for 97 yards and a touchdown in the air and ran for a game-high 196 yards and two touchdowns.

The Warriors will close out their home schedule next Saturday when they host Chaffey at Murdock Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.