El Camino Falls to Cerritos, 35-24

It was a familiar story for the El Camino College football team in its season finale against Cerritos.

El Camino had plenty of offense but little defense in a 35-24 loss to the Falcons on Saturday night in Torrance.

The Warriors (2-8) rolled up 338 total yards but gave up 389 as they finished their worst season in nine years under Coach John Featherstone. Cerritos is 7-2-1.

“The big concern was that they were going to control the ball on us and that’s what they did,” Featherstone said.

Trailing most of the game, El Camino tied the score, 18-18, on a five-yard touchdown run by running back Robert Jenkins with 8 minutes 54 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

But Cerritos went ahead to stay on a 71-yard scoring drive on its next possession that ended with a two-yard touchdown run by running back Louie Major with 2:52 left in the quarter.

Major led Cerritos’ ball-control offense by rushing for 137 yards and three TDs in 30 carries.

The Warriors were led by freshman quarterback Steve Sarkisian, who completed 28 of 40 passes for 265 yards and a touchdown. He finished the season with 2,970 yards passing.

El Camino had difficulty from the start. Leandrew Childs fumbled the opening kickoff in the end zone and was tackled for a safety.

The Falcons got the ball on a free kick and drove 39 yards to the El Camino six, where Mike Rodriguez kicked a 23-yard field goal for a 5-0 lead with 10:59 left in the first quarter.

Cerritos scored again on its next possession. The 74-yard drive ended with Major’s 13-yard touchdown run. Quarterback Larry Haney’s pass for a two-point conversion was incomplete.

El Camino drove 86 yards for its first touchdown, scoring on a four-yard run by Jenkins. Running back Morell Ollis added a two-point conversion run to cut El Camino’s deficit to 11-8.

After recovering a fumble by Sarkisian late in the quarter at the El Camino 33, it took the Falcons only six plays to score again. The final play was a five-yard touchdown pass from Haney to wide receiver Shawn Tippett for an 18-8 lead.

But El Camino closed the gap to 18-11 before halftime on a 24-yard field goal by Joseph Furlow.