Warriors Lose in Southern California Bowl Game at SD Mesa
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
El Camino (5-7) | 3 | 7 | 10 | 20 |
|
San Diego Mesa (8-4) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The El Camino College Warriors Football team lost 21-20 to the San Diego Mesa Olympians on Saturday in the SCFA Southern California Bowl Game held at San Diego Mesa College.
The Warriors led early and late but were unable to steal victory over the Olympians in the final minutes of the game in the narrow loss against SD Mesa.
The Warriors had 393 yards of total offense while the Olypians had 404 yards of offense. The Warriors had 354 yards from the air and just 39 rushing yards. SD Mesa had 307 passing yards and 97 rushing yards. Brenden Hodge had a career game for the Warriors with 12 receptions for 152 yards. Kijjon Foots went 27-43 with 354 yards and one touchdown and one interception.
The Warriors took the lead first after scoring a field goal in their first possession of the game. The Olympians responded with their own touchdown drive in the ensuing kick-off to take a 7-3 lead over the Warriors.
The Olympians scored another touchdown in the second quarter on a Gunnar Gray 22 yard pass to take a 14-3 lead. The Warriors after a 50-yard reception from Josh Lorick set Kijjon Foots up to find Khyren Ross for a 10-yard pass to make it a 14-10 game.
The Warriors would take the lead in the third quarter after the Warriors defense forced a fumble at the San Diego 20-yard line. Brian Santana-Fis was able to rush for a 3-yard score to give the Warriors a 17-14 lead.
TOUCHDOWN WARRIORS!!!
— ECC Football (@FBWarriorsECC) November 27, 2022
Brian Santana with the tough run the punch it in and give the Warriors the lead 17-14!!!
6:51 left in the third quarter pic.twitter.com/oXGiof7QA3
However the Olympians would regain the lead in the fourth quarter after Gunnar Gray found Antoine Sullivan for a 52-yard bomb that gave SD Mesa a 21-17 lead.
The Warriors would add a field goal with 6:29 left in the game to make it a 21-20 game which would end up being the final score of the game.
The Warriors had a chance to steal the lead late in the game after Omar Ibanez made an interception on the Olympians next drive. However, the Warriors would give the ball back nearly a minute later after Foots was intercepted by Bennett Walker at the Mesa 21-yard line to preserve the victory for San Diego Mesa.
The Warriors finished the 2022 season with a 5-7 overall record while the Olympians finished the season with an 8-4 record.