El Camino Finds a Quarterback, Nips Orange Coast, 10-9

Frank Dolce may have closed the door on the revolving-quarterback controversy at El Camino College.

Saturday night in a Mission Conference opener at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, Dolce went the distance and completed 15 of 19 pass attempts to lead the defending national champions to a dull 10-9 win.

“We’ll have to look at the films. I’ll have to wait and see,” said El Camino Coach John Featherstone, trying to sidestep questions about the status of the quarterback position.

Featherstone characterized his team’s play as “very average.” He said the loss of starting center Pat Hunt in warm-ups with a knee injury set the lackluster tone of the game for El Camino. Hunt is expected to miss the remainder of the season.

“We had our wind taken out of our sails before we got on the field,” said Featherstone.

The victory was the 13th in a row for El Camino, ranked No. 2 in the state behind Taft College. Orange Coast fell to 1-1.

Dolce was clearly the hero for the Warriors, although he let a snap slip through his fingers and out of the end zone for a safety with 2:22 to go that made the game a nail-biter. Stll, the freshman from Culver City looked the part of a Featherstone quarterback, hitting the flat passes as well as the crucial look-ins.

Featherstone had said the quarterback spot was up for grabs between sophomore Scott Yesser from Redondo Beach and Dolce. Dolce finished with 138 yards passing.

For Orange Coast the opposite was true at quarterback. Sophomore starter Mike Angelovic, a former all-CIF quarterback from Edison High in Huntington Beach, suffered through one of his worst performances. Angelovic overthrew almost a dozen open receivers and finished with only 11 completions in 33 attempts. He was intercepted three times.

Brian Conners turned the first big play of the night for the Warriors, taking a hand-off from Dolce at the El Camino 23 and scampering 36 yards early in the first quarter. But when Conners was hit by a pair of Orange Coast tacklers, he dropped the ball. Defensive back Gunnar Wolfe recovered at the Pirate 45.

El Camino held, as Angelovic overthrew another pass on third and 7 from his own 48. On the following play, center Jim Recktenwald sailed the snap three feet over punter Brian George’s head. George recovered the ball, but Ted Thomas of El Camino brought him down at the Pirate 21.

The Warriors blew a golden opportunity to score. Dolce threw 11 yards to Mike Jones at the 10. Two plays later, Daymon Lee bounced eight yards to the 2. But with fourth and 3 at the Pirate 3, Dolce was sacked by Ken Griggs and Chris Matney.

The Warriors were back in business plays later when Angelovic overthrew another open receiver and instead completed it to El Camino defensive back Tony Church, who returned it 14 yards to the Pirate 12. A personal-foul call on Orange Coast moved the blal to the 6, and four plays later, with 15 seconds left in the first quarter, Aaron Craver scored on a 1-yard run.

Field goal kicker Bill Craft could have put the Pirates on the board less than two minutes into the second quarter. But the right-footed kicker hooked a 21-yard field goal attempt to the left.

Orange Coast tied the game when El Camino lineman Elgin Lofton let a punt nick his leg, and Jim Recktenwald alertly fell on the ball at the Warrior 8-yard line. Two plays later, George squirmed into the end zone.