It Was a Year to Forget for 2-8 El Camino : Warriors: They were unable to overcome the loss of five defensive players in the preseason.

El Camino College football Coach John Featherstone had an inkling that the Warriors could be in for a difficult season when he lost five probable defensive starters during preseason practice.

There was All-America lineman Mike Thomas, who fractured a shoulder; lineman Sebastian Beers, who had to work to support his two children; defensive back Nacio Jennings, who left because of family problems, and linebacker Shermont Harrison and defensive back Shannon Henry, who were ruled academically ineligible.

It only got worse once the season started. The Warriors finished 2-8, their worst record in nine seasons under Featherstone.

Quite a comedown for a coach who had a .738 winning percentage during his first eight seasons, including a national championship in 1987.

“When you lose five potential starters on defense before the start of the season, it really sets you back,” Featherstone said. “We were just horribly unsettled (on defense) before the season even started. Then we got off to a bad start against Golden West and it was just downhill from there.”

El Camino lost its opener at Golden West, 30-23, a game Featherstone said the Warriors easily could

have won. The same could have been said for most of their other defeats, considering they lost only two games by more than seven points.

But bad luck, breakdowns in execution and mistakes led to a disappointing season.

Bad luck? Rancho Santiago was given five downs in a crucial series and rallied to beat El Camino, 37-36, in the third game of the season.

Breakdowns? El Camino was leading the nation’s top-ranked team, Palomar, 38-37, in the final minute. But Palomar quarterback Tom Luginbill connected with wide receiver Chris Baker for a 57-yard touchdown with 14 seconds remaining and the top-ranked team won, 45-38.

Mistakes? The Warriors fumbled the opening kickoff against Cerritos and gave up a safety. El Camino lost the season-ending game, 35-24.

“It was the strangest season I’ve ever been involved with as a player or a coach,” Featherstone said. “It seemed like every time we’d fumble the ball, it went into the opponents’ hands and every time they fumbled it bounced right back to them.”

Off the field, the results weren’t any better. In September, El Camino had to forfeit eight victories from the 1992 season because it used an ineligible player. Featherstone said the school is still fighting to have its 8-3 record reinstated.

“We’re working on getting our 1992 (record) back because it involved falsification of documents,” he said. “We also didn’t hide anything from anyone and came out with everything we knew.”

But the nightmarish 1993 season will be difficult to forget.

“We felt like we had a lot of talent and we’re a very close-knit team,” freshman defensive lineman Craig Zimmermann said. “I don’t think we’re a 2-8 team. With a little luck, we could’ve just as easily been 8-2. It just didn’t happen.”

Featherstone said the defense lacked speed, leadership and depth. The Warriors also had a turnover ratio of minus-13.

Although Featherstone wasn’t as critical of the offense, which was among the best in the Mission Conference, it didn’t completely escape blame.

“We didn’t turn the ball over much, but when we did it always seemed to hurt us,” he said.

With quarterback Steve Sarkisian, wide receivers Leandrew Childs and Dameon Porter and running back Robert Jenkins expected to return in 1994, the Warriors could be tough to stop. Sarkisian was the third-leading passer in the conference, completing 227 of 357 passes for 2,970 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Sarkisian is looking forward to 1994.

“The one thing we never did was give up,” he said. “We battled back in the fourth quarter in most of our games and we were in it all of the time. We just want to start working on next season and pay back some of the teams that beat us this year.”

The Warriors will get their chance at revenge. Because of the conference’s two-year scheduling cycle, they will play most of the teams on the 1993 schedule.

Featherstone expects the defense to be improved with the return of several starters. He is hoping to fill defensive gaps with what he calls an above-average recruiting class from South Bay high schools.

The biggest challenge may be psychological.

“We’ve got to get the kids who are coming back to start believing again,” Featherstone said. “This has just been a very trying season for all of us, from the players to the coaches, and we hurt for the kids who have left. But we’re going to work hard in the off-season and we have a lot of pay-back ahead of us.”