El Camino Edges Riverside, 21-20

For the past two years, the Riverside City College football team has defeated El Camino at the most inopportune times.

In 1989, Riverside was the only team to beat El Camino. In 1990, Riverside handed the Warriors one of their two losses.

On Saturday, in a Mission Conference game at Murdock Stadium, the Warriors got revenge. Barely. El Camino won, 21-20, in the final minutes.

Trailing, 20-14, El Camino took a chance by throwing on fourth and six from the El Camino 40-yard line. Quarterback Rod Anderson passed to Latario Rachal at the Riverside 45 and Rachal used several spectacular moves to elude two tacklers and race into the end zone for the winning touchdown with 2:52 remaining.

Anderson, who has split time at quarterback with freshman Jerry Singleton, played the entire game. He completed 16 of 20 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns.

El Camino improved to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in league play. Riverside is 1-3 and 1-2.

“We got a huge monkey off our backs tonight,” El Camino Coach John Featherstone said. “I said to them, ‘We’re going to find a way. We’re going to beat them.’ We beat a real good football team here tonight.”

El Camino struggled at first. The Warriors’ offense looked sluggish in the first half. The Warriors gained only 70 yards in six possessions and twice punted when they needed two yards or less for a first down.

El Camino was held to less than 23 yards in every possession except one, a 38-yard scoring drive with 8:24 left in the first quarter. Fullback Eric Gamble scored on an 11-yard run to give El Camino a 7-0 lead after Tom Dallen’s conversion.

Riverside answered with a touchdown in its next possession. On the first play from the Riverside 13, running back Jeff Lambeth ran through the El Camino defense for an 87-yard touchdown with 8:05 left in the first quarter.

The Tigers scored twice in the second quarter. They drove 52 yards in 10 plays with Samita Vaoifi running two yards for a touchdown and 14-7 lead.

Riverside’s Jeff McDaniel made a 22-yard field goal with 2:40 remaining for a 17-7 halftime lead.

McDaniel made a 45-yard field goal with 10:01 left in the third quarter for a 20-7 Riverside lead.

El Camino responded with a 61-yard drive that ended with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Anderson to tailback Mark Harper with 6:32 left. The Warriors’ trailed, 20-14, after Dallen’s extra point.

“I’m real proud of these kids,” Featherstone said. “They worked so hard for this. They needed this bad.”