El Camino Easily Powers Its Way Past Golden West

There’s little doubt after Saturday’s Mission Conference win over Golden West College that El Camino College will dominate the rest of its opponents this season.

The top-ranked Warriors (4-0, 3-0) seemed capable of anything in their 38-14 victory over Golden West (2-2, 2-1), a team they tied last year.

El Camino was so dominant that Coach John Featherstone put in his second-string quarterback and defense in the fourth quarter.

Why not? with 14:50 left to play, the Warriors already had a 31-point lead. Might as well give sophomore quarterback Frank Dolce a rest. He had already completed 22 of 28 yards for 300 yards and 4 touchdowns.

With 8:20 left in the third quarter, El Camino scored on a five-play, 93-yard drive. Running back Alfred Lowe scored on a two-yard touchdown run and Dolce threw to Khevin Pratt for the two-point conversion to give the Warriors a 31-7 lead.

El Camino scored on its last touchdown early in the fourth quarter when Dolce passed to David Blakes for a 29-yard pass.

Golden West scored on its second touchdown with less than a minute left to play when third-string quarterback Ron Ramirez hit Robert Bedford for a nine-yard pass.

“I thought our running game is what kept them off balance,” Featherstone said. “We ran so we could get our big plays through the air.”

The Warriors were on a roll from the start. They scored on their first possession, which came after Anthony Anetema intercepted a Rip Flippo pass down the middle. Golden West drove 30 yards in four plays before turning the ball over to the Warriors.

El Camino capped a five-play, 61-yard drive with a 16-yard screen pass from Dolce to Al Savea for the first score of the game. Louis Perez’ point-after kick put the Warriors up 7-0.

Perez made a 27-yard field goal on the Warriors’ next possession to make it 10-0. The Warriors got the ball when Ed Togia recovered Corey Dickson’s fumble during a punt return.

The Warriors marched 32 yards, including a three-yard touchdown run by Dolce that was called back on a holding penalty.

El Camino scored a touchdown on its next possession, though. The Warriors drove 52 yards in eight plays and Perez’ point-after kick made it 17-0. Dolce threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Shannon Thompson for that score.

Golden West finally scored with 11:20 left in the half, thanks to an El Camino fumble by Alfred Lowe on the Golden West 15-yard line.

Rustler defensive lineman Robert Erena recovered the ball and Flippo hit Patric Reilly for a 15-yard touchdown pass on third-and-ten.

El Camino answered with another touchdown. It came after a nine-play, 78-yard drive that was capped by Dolce’s 25-yard pass to David Blakes. That gave the Warriors a comfortable 23-7 halftime lead.

The Warriors take their Mission Conference show to Chula Vista next week where they face unranked Southwestern, a 28-0 loser to Rancho Santiago.