Warriors Hold Off Second-Half Surge from Bakersfield to Win

TORRANCE, Calif. – The defense held firm at the most pivotal point of the game as No. 21 El Camino College scored a 27-26 victory over No. 12 Bakersfield on Saturday night at Murdock Stadium.

The Warriors led 24-7 at halftime but the Renegades erased all but one point off the deficit as a touchdown with 44 seconds left made it 27-26 ECC.

The Renegades elected to go for the win with a two-point try, but Malachi Statler's pass to running back Jalen Hankins was stuffed at the 1-yard line by defensive backs Jonathan Bellamy and Brett James, stopping the halfback short of the goal line.

The Warriors would recover the ensuing onside kick attempt to secure important win to move to 2-0 in National Northern League play.

Tyler Karen went 7-for-8 for 113 yards and one touchdown for ECC but came out of the game following a late hit near the end of the second half as he slid following a three-yard scramble. Hunter Herrera would take over for the rest of the game at quarterback.

The Warriors rushed for 127 yards as a team with one touchdown. Marcus Higgs and Azeon Nelson each ran for 37 yards while Jaggar Tavai recorded his fourth touchdown in two games.

For the Renegades, quarterbacks Vincent Ioga and Malachi Statler combined to pass for 243 yards and three touchdowns while Hankins rushed for 87 yards on 18 carries.

On defense, James and Ky'yin Arrington led the Warriors with 10 tackles apiece while Ruben Leiatauo had eight tackles and 1.5 sacks on the night. Elijah Brown also came up with a big interception in Warriors territory to end a dangerous Renegades drive.

The Warriors will now enter the bye week with a perfect conference record and will return to action on Thursday, Oct. 17 with a road contest against College of the Canyons, which upended Antelope Valley, 48-7, on Saturday to push its record to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play.

NOTES: During halftime of Saturday's game, El Camino College honored the All-Decade Team for the 2010s. The full list of honorees is listed below:

2010s ALL DECADE TEAM

OFFENSE

QB - Omar Herrera (2011)
RBs - Kendell Sparks (2014), Raymond Graham (2019)
WRs - Trevon Clark (2019), Stephon Robinson (2017)
TE - Jean Sifrin (2013)
OL - Miles Mason (2010), Cory Stanicky (2014), Joe Anderson (2014), Pearce Slater (2013), Emerald Faletuipapai (2016)
All-Purpose - Robert Ferrel (2019)

DEFENSE

DL - Marques Johnson (2011), Jordan Tavai (2011), Jonah Tavai (2017), Ray Lima (2015)
LB - Ivan McClennan (2012), Derek Largent (2011), Kris Bass (2013)
DB - Logan Taylor (2019), Jaylen Stewart (2019), Shahman Moore (2017), Darious Lane (2011)
PK - Campbell Geddes (2019)
P - Tanner Blain (2014)

COACHES

Head Coach - John Featherstone
Assistant Coach - Gene Engle