Football Records Fourth Straight Win with Rout of Santa Barbara

TORRANCE, Calif. – El Camino College hammered visiting Santa Barbara, 48-26, in a National Northern League victory on Saturday night at Murdock Stadium.

The Warriors led by as much as 38 points and were never threatened as the offense put up 214 yards rushing on the night, scoring five of their seven touchdowns on the ground.

Azeon Nelson led the ECC rushing attack with 104 yards on just 10 carries, averaging 10.4 yards per carry and scoring one touchdown.

Jaden Moore had 56 yards on eight carries while Marcus Higgs posted 31 yards on eight rushes. Jaggar Tavai picked up three rushing touchdowns on just five rushing yards, plowing into the end zone from goal-line situations each time. He now has seven rushing touchdowns on 10 carries while averaging just 1.2 yards per rush.

Hunter Herrera threw for just 98 yards on the night on only 13 pass attempts but did connect for a pair of touchdowns with Damonte Bias and Joshua Long.

On defense, Emilio Gutierrez recorded two interceptions and Yudai Naka picked up his first career interception late in the fourth to lock up the victory.

The Warriors defense forced a punt on Santa Barbara's opening drive to start the game and the offense immediately found the end-zone, needing just five plays to go 50 yards for a 7-0 lead on Tavai's first TD of the night.

On their next drive, the Warriors needed even less time to score as Herrera connected with Bias on a 43-yard strike on the first play of the drive to make it 13-0 after a missed extra point.

The Vaqueros would put up three on a 26-yard field goal by Jackson Smith to cut the deficit to 10 points but the Warriors would score 28 unanswered points to take a 41-3 lead and they never looked back.

The Warriors remain tied for first place in the National Northern League with Ventura, which defeated Antelope Valley 42-28 on Saturday night at Ventura. The Warriors will head to Antelope Valley next week while the Pirates face Bakersfield on the road.

With Saturday's win, the Warriors are now 3-0 all-time against Santa Barbara. They defeated the Vaqueros last season in their first season together in the National Northern League. Prior to that, the last meeting between the teams was during the Warriors' inaugural season in 1947, a 40-0 shutout win in favor of ECC.