Warriors Wallop Santa Barbara in Season Opener

TORRANCE, Calif. --- El Camino College opened the 2025 regular season with a statement, trouncing Santa Barbara 68-6 on Saturday night at Featherstone Field at Murdock Stadium.

It was the Warriors' largest home win since 2023 and first win of 60-plus points since they defeated L.A. Harbor 70-7 on Sept. 21, 2019.

The Warriors were also just six points short of tying the program record of 74 points scored on Sept. 2, 2017 at L.A. Southwest, a 74-8 victory.

Saturday night's game was never in question as the Warriors scored on every single one of their drives during the game. They led 13-0 after the first quarter and then erupted for 34 points in the second to take a colossal 47-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The only saving grace for SBCC was their lone touchdown of the game with 6:58 left in the fourth quarter, dashing the Warriors' hopes of their first shutout win since Oct. 15, 2016 at L.A. Harbor and first home shutout victory since Sept. 6, 2008 against L.A. Southwest.

But despite giving up the lone score in the fourth, the Warriors defense was stifling. They racked up eight sacks on the night from eight different players and also had three takeaways (one interception, two fumble recoveries). The ECC defense recorded 13 tackles for a loss of 53 yards overall and held the Vaqueros to just 24 rushing yards on 31 attempts, a 0.8 yards per carry average.

Maurice Stepter Jr. led the way with eight tackles including one sack and to TFLs while Jalen Birdsong added seven tackles with one forced fumble that killed an SBCC drive in the redzone.

Offensively, the Warriors attacked from all directions as they racked up a whopping 677 total yards of offense including 220 yards rushing with five touchdowns on the ground.

Azeon Nelson led the way with 45 yards on nine carries while Jaden Moore had 33 yards on just five carries with two of them going for touchdowns. Marion Victor scored one TD while racking up 35 rushing yards on just three carries for an 11.7 average per rush. Ryan Young also scored twice on the ground, racking up 25 rushing yards.

The Warriors also used an efficient passing attack as three quarterbacks combined for 457 passing yards and three touchdowns.

Andrew Maushardt started the game and led the way with 232 yards on 16-for-23 passing with two touchdowns.

Evan Tomich went 8-for-11 for 179 yards and one touchdown while Michael Southern was 4-for-6 for 46 yards.

Mark Baker had just three catches but hauled in one for a 47-yard touchdown and finished with 73 receiving yards to lead a corps that saw 16 different receivers haul in a reception on the night.

The Warriors are now 4-0 all time against Santa Barbara. The teams met for the first time in ECC's inaugural season of 1947. They've now played each other in three straight seasons with the Warriors winning every meeting.

Saturday's drubbing was ECC's largest over SBCC with the previous record being a 40-0 win in that 1947 meeting. The 68 points is also the most the Warriors have ever scored against SBCC, eclipsing last season's 48 points in another dominant home win for ECC.

The Warriors will meet College of the Canyons on Sept. 6 back at Featherstone Field for a non-league matchup and the seventh meeting between the programs all time. It is the third straight meeting in the last three seasons. The Warriors are just 2-4 all time against the Cougars but won last year's meeting, 27-26, in a league game. The two teams will face off at 6 p.m.