Warriors Drop Heartbreaker to Cerritos; Brown Nears Sack Record

TORRANCE, Calif. --- El Camino College stormed back from a big deficit but Mark Waronek's game-winning field goal try went off the upright with one second left in a 22-20 National Central League loss to Cerritos on Saturday night at Murdock Stadium.

The Warriors (3-4, 0-2) overcame a 20-point deficit in the second quarter and stormed all the way back to tie the Falcons (6-1, 2-0) in the third quarter, but a late safety on a blocked punt proved to be the difference.

Sophomore Lando Brown recorded three quarterback sacks on the day, giving him 12 for the season. The number leads the Southern California Football Association and moved Brown into solo third for the most sacks by a Warriors player in a single season in program history.

Brown also has 21 career sacks, putting him in second place all time and just two sacks behind Daniel Stewart's program-record 23, which was set in 2008-09.  

Neither team could get much going early in the game as both defenses were outstanding. It was not until the Falcons forced a fumble in the Warriors end zone that the scoreless tie was broken with Izaac Tauiliili recovering the loose ball in the end zone for the touchdown.

The Falcons would score 20 unanswered points in after Jordan Simpson completed touchdown passes of 14 and 55 yards to Michael Bruner and Jaceon Doss respectively to put Cerritos up 20-0 with 7:15 left in the half.

But the Warriors found life late in the second, sparked by a defensive play as the Warriors forced a fumble in the backfield and Quentin Ross recovered and took it 22 yards to the end zone to put the Warriors on the board, trailing 20-6 after a blocked extra point.

On the team's next offensive possession, the Warriors went 75 yards on 10 plays with quarterback Corey Graham capping the march with a nine-yard TD pass to Jabari Hughes Jr. with nine seconds left in the half to bring ECC within a touchdown at 20-13 at the break.

The score stayed that way until the Warriors mounted a surgical 16-play, 98-yard scoring drive that was finished off by a four-yard scoring run by Stephen Bradford Jr. to notch the game up at 20-20 with 4:47 left in the third quarter.

The teams traded punts on ensuing drives until the Warriors' had a punt blocked in their end zone and out of bounds for a safety, giving the Falcons a two-point lead.

The Warriors defense held against the Falcons on the ensuing drive as Luke Ah-Kiong tackled Falcons quarterback Jordan Simpson for a one-yard loss on fourth down to give the ball back to ECC at its own 22 yard line with 5:11 left in the game.

The Warriors would drive the ball down to the Cerritos 13 yard line but a holding call and a quarterback sack sent the team back to the Falcons' 32. Then, a high snap that sailed over Graham made its way all the way back to the ECC 29, giving the Warriors a fourth-and-68 and forcing the team to punt with 50 seconds left.

Adam Saul gave his kick a great ride, sending it 61 yards to the Falcons' 10.

The Warriors then stopped the Falcons on three rushing plays and got the ball back at the Cerritos 36-yard line with 18 seconds left after a short punt by Falcons punter Abraham Delgadillo.

The Warriors then caught a huge break as the Falcons' Aiden Chapman was called for a roughing the passer penalty, putting the Warriors at the 21-yard line and in field goal range.

But Waronek's 35-yard attempt hit the left upright, giving the Falcons the ball back with one second left. They would kneel on it once and secure their second straight victory over the Warriors.

The Warriors will look to regroup next week as they travel to Riverside to take on the undefeated Tigers. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m.