Tigers Sandwich Defensive Touchdowns to Open and Close Scoring, Squeeze El Camino, 31-7

RIVERSIDE -- Using a 15-yard interception return for a touchdown to open the scoring and an 86-yard fumble return for another score, the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers football team didn't rest on its defense, but it sure could have seemed like that as RCC rolled to a 31-7 National Central Conference (NCC) home victory over the visiting El Camino College (ECC) Warriors Saturday night (Oct. 4) at legendary Arthur N. Wheelock Stadium.

Riverside (3-1, 1-0 NCC) saw freshman LB A.J. Hotchkins (Tigard, OR) snag an errant pass from ECC QB Joey Notch and return it 15 yards to paydirt to open the game's scoring with 9:55 remaining in the first quarter. RCC freshman PK Jimmy Camacho (Citrus Hill HS) kicked the first of his four PAT attempts and the Tigers led, 7-0.

Undaunted, ECC (2-3, 0-2 NCC) came back with a defensive score of its own when freshman DB Lionel Kendrick (Locke HS) returned an errant RCC aerial 50 yards with 4:35 left before halftime to help forge a 7-7 tie. Camacho kicked a 28-yard field goal with 1:06 left and the Tigers led, 10-7, at halftime.

RCC sophomore QB Nicholas King (Westchester HS), who is pictured, made the start for the Tigers, and added a 15-yard TD run to put RCC ahead, 17-7, with 12:41 to play in the third quarter. Later in the quarter (1:52), sophomore RB Denzel Foster (Riverside / John W. North HS) added a 28-yard TD scamper and RCC led, 24-7.

The Tigers held the Warriors offense scoreless for the game, but ECC drove to the Tigers' three-yardline early in the fourth quarter. Reserve QB Jorge Hernandez fumbled in the backfield and the ball was scooped by sophomore DL Miki Fangatua (Baldwin, HI HS) at the RCC 14 and Fangatua raced 86 yards for the TD with 11:19 left in the game.

With the win, the Tigers hope to improve on their No. 8 ranking in the state (No. 4 in SoCal). El Camino was rated No. 18 in state (No. 10 in SoCal) coming into the game. Riverside has won the last three meetings (2012-13-14) between the two clubs, but still trails in the all-time series, 13-8.

Riverside returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 11, when it hosts the Fullerton College Hornets in a nonconference game. Kickoff is 6 p.m. In 2013, the Tigers finished 10-2 overall with the Hornets dealing RCC both of its losses, including one in the Southern California regional final.

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