El Camino Is Beaten by Saddleback, 36-8

The El Camino College football team, which had the second-best community college record in the nation the past three years, has found the going difficult in 1991.

The Warriors lost to Saddleback, 36-8, Saturday in a Mission Conference opener at Mission Viejo.

It is the second time El Camino (1-2) has been soundly beaten this season.

El Camino was 28-4-1 in the past three seasons, second only to Bakersfield (29-3-1).

Both losses have come against pretty good teams. El Camino opened with a 57-27 loss to College of the Sequoias, the second-ranked team in the nation in the JC Grid-Wire poll.

Saddleback (2-0) is ranked 17th.

Saddleback led, 15-0, at half, but El Camino cut it to 15-8 late in the third quarter. Latario Rachel caught a tipped pass and dashed into the open to complete a 76-yard scoring play.

But Saddleback came right back with a big play of its own. Quarterback Tim Snowden threw a pass into the flat that Dan Zaamora broke for a 78-yard touchdown for a 22-8 lead. The Gauchos scored 21 points in the final quarter.

Snowden, a freshman making his second start, was impressive at times. He was only 14 of 32, but had 412 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions.

He also completed scoring passes of 51, 39, 19 and 80 yards.

Saddleback had a 15-0 halftime lead and it could have been more. El Camino’s Lamar Mickey intercepted a pass in the end zone to end a Saddleback threat.

Saddleback had a first and goal at the El Camino two, but two rushing plays netting nothing. Snowden then rolled out and threw into the end zone, but Mickey intercepted the pass.

Saddleback had just stopped El Camino two minutes earlier on four plays from the Gaucho one.

Saddleback’s first score came when linebacker Sean Mallett tackled El Camino quarterback Jerry Singleton in the end zone for a safety.