RUSTLERS (in green) almost upset El Camino in a battle of unbeatens Saturday evening. Golden West led early before falling 34-21.
By Sarah Martinez
Western Sun staff writer
After blowing out the Glendale Vaqueros at home 34-7 on Saturday, Sep. 10, the Golden West football team faced a battle of the undefeated teams on Saturday, Sep. 17 when they faced the El Camino Warriors. Unfortunately for the Rustlers they were handed their first loss of the season as the Warriors managed to edge GWC by a close 24-21 score.
Raymond Huizar started at quarterback for Golden West and threw for 211 yards on the night including two touchdowns and one interception. Wide receiver Andrew Williams had 99 of those 211 yards on six receptions.
The Warriors scored first by kicking a field goal with 4:32 left in the first quarter to take a 3-0 lead. Less then three minutes later, on first and goal Huizar threw to receiver Jared Cohen for the touchdown.
“I did pretty well and handled pressure, but at times you have to buckle down and make plays. Sometimes you come up short and have to learn from it,” Huizar said.
The defense forced three interceptions and added five sacks, but it wasn’t enough to win the game for the Rustlers.
Linebacker Dashan Miller intercepted the ball and scored the second touchdown of the night for the Rustlers with 9:16 left in the second quarter putting Golden West up, 14-3.
“It felt great and I had the perfect opportunity to get the interception,” Miller said. “I read the play from the start, and something in my head said, ‘watch the out, and get the interception.”
With 4:30 left in the first half the Warriors scored their first touchdown of the game making the score 14-10. With 9:02 left in the third quarter the Rustlers scored what turned out to be their last points of the evening.
El Camino wide receiver Kenneth Holmes capitalized on missed tackles to return a kick off for a touchdown with 8:46 left in the third quarter, again cutting the Rustlers lead to four.
With just five minutes left on the clock Holmes struck again for the Warriors when he caught a 25-yard pass that proved to be the game-winning touchdown’
Golden West (2-1) next travels to play the Fullerton Hornets (3-0), on Sept. 24. They host the Los Angeles Harbor Seahawks (2-0) on Oct. 1.
