Warriors Season Ends at Mt. San Antonio

WALNUT, Calif. --- No. 4 El Camino College suffered a 48-24 loss to No. 1 Mt. San Antonio in the SCFA Regional Semifinals on Saturday night at Hilmer Lodge Stadium.

The Warriors held an early 10-point lead but could not hold on as the Mounties advanced to the regional title game next week.

Both teams utilized their excellent running games with Jaden Moore going for 107 yards on 18 carries to lead the Warriors. As a team, ECC gained 232 yards on the ground but only managed one touchdown and that proved to be the difference.

For the Mounties, Devin Miles took home the offensive MVP award for the game as he racked up 176 yards on 23 carries and scored three of the Mounties' six touchdowns on the night.

The Warriors fell behind 7-0 on just the second play of the game as Mounties quarterback Noah Fuailetolo connected with receiver Juwan Grant for a 41-yard score on a two-play, 54-yard drive that took just 32 seconds.

But the Warriors answered back with a flurry, scoring 17 straight points in just 6:30 of game time. The spurt began with a 58-yard TD strike from Tyler Karen to Joshua Long to tie things up at 7-7 with just 1:14 elapsed from the start of the game.

After the Warriors forced a three-and-out from the Mounties offense, Elijah Holmes put the Warriors up 14-7 with a 60-yard scamper.

The Warriors defense then came up big again as Brett James picked off Fuialetolo on the first play of the ensuing drive, giving the Warriors the ball at the Mounties' 36-yard line. The Warriors would get to the 21 on the first two plays of the drive but a pair of penalties stalled the drive out at the 24 and Cooper Dileva connected on a 41-yard field goal to give ECC a 10-point lead with 7:16 left in the first quarter.

But the Mounties would outscore the Warriors 41-7  the rest of the way including holding the ECC offense scoreless in the second half.

The Warriors finish the season with a 7-4 overall record, the fifth seven-win season under head coach Gifford Lindheim since he took over the program in 2016. Prior to the current stretch, the Warriors last season of at least seven wins came in 2011, which was also the last time the Warriors faced the Mounties in the SCFA playoffs.