Warriors Open Season with Road Win at Southwestern

CHULA VISTA, Calif. --- El Camino College opened the 2024 regular season with a 29-10 victory over Southwestern on Saturday night at Devore Stadium in Chula Vista, Calif.

The Warriors defense was all over the Jaguars' offense with five interceptions and seven tackles for a loss. They held the Jaguars' passing game to 24 completions on 47 attempts and just 3.7 yards per passing play.

Offensively, the Warriors' running game set the tempo as seven players combined to rush for 245 yards. Azeon Nelson led the attack with 63 yards on just seven carries including a 25-yard run, the longest rush of the day for the Warriors. He scored one of the three rushing touchdowns for ECC.

Jaden Moore gained 58 yards on 10 carries with Zamir Hall going for 51 yards on 13 carries and Marcus Higgins added 49 yards on eight carries. Hall and quarterback Aidan Semo accounted for the other two rushing touchdowns.

The Warriors jumped out to a 13-0 lead and led by as much as 20 points late in the third quarter but the Jaguars mounted a final push to make it interesting.

The hosts mounted a seven-play, 78-yard touchdown drive culminating with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Hunter Maxwell to Aerek Brown to make it a 23-10 game with 1:45 left in the third quarter.

The turning point came early in the fourth quarter after the Jaguars picked off a pass from Hunter Herrera with 12:17 left in the fourth.

The turnover gave Southwestern the ball at the Warriors' 29-yard line. The Warriors defense held firm and forced a fourth-and-3 from the 22, but an offside call gave Southwestern a new set of downs from the 17.

Luckily, the Warriors defense made up for that mistake as Luke Bower hammered Maxwell as he threw his pass toward the endzone. Brett James was there to pick off the rushed throw and put an end to a dangerous drive that could have cut the Warriors' lead to single digits.

The Warriors would record another interception on the Jaguars' next drive and then Nelson punched in a touchdown from one-yard out with 1:34 left to put the game away.

With the win, the Warriors have now won five straight games against Southwestern dating back to 1988. It is just the second time the two teams have played this century and the Warriors are 5-1 overall.

The Warriors have also recorded a win in the season opener for the fourth straight year and are 6-2 overall in season openers under Gifford Lindheim.

The Warriors will open their home schedule on Saturday night against Palomar with kickoff set for 6 p.m.