Warriors Light Up the Scoreboard, Set Record to Open League Play

TORRANCE, Calif. --- El Camino College scored nine touchdowns on Saturday night and set a new Featherstone Field at Murdock Stadium en route to a 65-29 shellacking of Moorpark in the National Northern League opener for both teams.

The Warriors' (3-1, 1-0) offense was unstoppable and nearly put up 700 total yards, settling for 667 on the night against the Raiders (2-2, 0-1). They put up 384 passing yards on 21 completions and scampered for 283 yards on the ground on 39 rushing attempts.

The team's 65 points is a new record at Featherstone Field at Murdock Stadium, which opened in 2016. The previous record was 58 points on Sept. 16, 2017 when the Warriors beat Grossmont 58-23. It was also the first time the Warriors put up 60-plus points in a home game since Sept. 12, 2009 when they scored a 65-20 non-conference win over Long Beach in week 2 at the old Murdock Stadium.  

The big play also made its return to the field for ECC as the Warriors had scoring plays of 62, 76, 46 and 59 yards on the night.

Quarterback Nicholas Poulos made his season debut for the Warriors and it was stellar as he went 14-of-18 for 303 yards and four touchdowns. He also added a five-yard touchdown run to his ledger in his Warriors debut.

The receivers ate well on Saturday night as eight different players caught a pass from either Poulos, Dayton Tafoya (6-of-8, 81 yds, 1 TD) or Champion Edwards (1-of-2). Joshua Lorick had the biggest night through the air, hauling in four catches for 161 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged an astonishing 40.3 yards per catch on the night and had TD scores of 76 and 46 yards.

Bryant Williams led all Warriors receivers with seven catches for 92 yards and one touchdown. Marceese Yetts and Khyren Ross each had three catches and one touchdown apiece through the air.

The ground game was no slouch either on Saturday night as 10 players registered at least one carry, but none recorded double-digits in the department. Amani Givens led all ECC ball-carriers with eight carries for 99 yards.

Zamir Hall had just three carries but two of them went for touchdowns including a 59-yard touchdown. He finished 73 rushing yards and averaged 24.3 yards per attempt.

Things did not start out so well for the Warriors though as the Raiders got the ball first to start the game and immediately jumped out to a 7-0 lead, going 68 yards on 11 plays for a touchdown on the opening drive.

Then, on the Warriors first possession of the game, Poulos fumbled the ball on a handoff to start the drive and the Raiders recovered it on the Warriors' 34 yard-line. The Raiders then drove the ball down to the ECC 5 where quarterback Macloud Crowton found receiver Tyson Moten wide open in the back of the endzone for what appeared to be a quick two-score lead. But Moten dropped what seemed like a surefire touchdown and the Warriors defense responded by forcing the Raiders to settle for a 20-yard field goal to make it 10-0.

The Warriors offense got the ball back and again struggled early, gaining only nine yards on three downs to start their second drive. But the Warriors went for it on 4th-and-1 from their own 41 and Jakai Torres pushed through for two yards and the first down. Two plays later, Poulos hit Yetts for a 62-yard touchdown.

The Warriors would take the lead on their next drive as Poulos drove the team 49 yards for a score, capped off by his own five-yard TD run.

The game was still close in the first half as the Warriors held a 21-17 lead with 13:53 left in the first half. But the Warriors ran off 30 unanswered points to take a 51-17 lead and never looked back.

With the win, the Warriors now hold an 8-2 overall record against Moorpark and have won five straight meetings dating back to 2016. The 65 points are also the most the Warriors have ever scored against the Raiders. The 36-point win is also ECC's second largest margin of victory over Moorpark, trailing only a 54-point win against the Raiders in 2017 at Murdock Stadium.

The Warriors will now hit the road for their next matchup against longtime rival Bakersfield. It will be the 56th overall meeting between the teams dating back to ECC's inaugural football season in 1947. It will also mark the 41st time the teams meet in a conference/league game but first time since 2011.