By Joe Snyder
El Camino College’s men’s soccer team got off to a very good start, behind forward David Marcial, in its season opening match against Norco College last Friday at ECC.
Marcial got the Warriors off to a fast start with two goals, but after his second goal, he was penalized for taunting a Norco player and was red carded, ejecting him from the rest of the match.
In soccer, there is no substitution for an ejected player and the El Camino was forced to play the rest of the game with 10 players, opposed to the starting 11 for Norco.
Marcial’s second goal gave ECC a 2-1 lead before Norco tied it and the score remained tied at two at halftime.
Despite being shorthanded, the Warriors tied the match at three midway in the second half when Rima Tanaka scored from about five meters out.
From there, Norco scored the game’s eventual winning goal for a 4-3 win.
“The red card early in the match put us one player down in the final 75 minutes,” ECC head coach Michael Jacobson said. “It was an unnecessary celebration. I was disappointed about David.”
The Warriors next match is Friday at 3:30 p.m. at Santa Monica City College.
“Hopefully we can continue to grow and get some wins,” Jacobson said.
In the earlier women’s match, El Camino and Norco battled to a 2-2 tie. They also play Santa Monica on the road Friday at 1 p.m.
In the Warriors’ non-conference football game at Santa Barbara City College on Saturday, ECC dominated the Vaqueros 61-7.
Leading 7-0 after the first quarter, El Camino quickly put the game away with 28 second period points for a 35-0 lead and continued to dominate Santa Barbara from there.
Warrior quarterback Maika Eugenio completed 15 of 22 passes for 231 yards and three touchdowns.
ECC tallied 454 total offensive yards to 178 for the Vaqueros.
El Camino will visit College of the Canyons in Valencia in another non-conference game at noon. The Warriors’ first home game is on Sept. 12 against Mt. San Antonio College, beginning at 6 p.m. Their first National Central Conference game is at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga on Sept. 19 and, a week later, their first home conference game against Mt. San Jacinto College from Hemet. Both of these games also start at 6 p.m.
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Serra pulls away from Hamilton in first home game in two years
Serra High’s football team finally saw home-sweet-home for the first time in two seasons after having to play its home games predominantly at either El Camino or Los Angeles Southwest College last season due to severe damages of its stadium after a fire on March 2025.
The Yankees, led by premiere sophomore quarterback Thaddeus Breaua, gave the Cavaliers (1-1) a scare as Serra led just 14-12 late in the second quarter but the much more balanced Cavaliers proved too much for them, finishing the game with 35 unanswered points and finished with a 49-12 rout.
Manhattan Beach Mira Costa transfer A.J. McBean continued his success with Serra. He rushed for 135 yards and three touchdowns on just eight carries.
McBean, bound for Stanford University next year, had five carries for 14 yards or more. His 10-yard TD run gave the Cavaliers a 35-12 lead with 9:46 left in the third quarter. McBean nearly had another score from 33 yards out but it was nullified due to a holding penalty.
With the big lead, Serra was able to clear the bench, using reserve running backs James Robertson and Ikeem Crawford, who each added one touchdown.
The Cavaliers were plagued with the injury of starting quarterback Malik Tunai, as he was replaced by freshman Hassir Houston, who was brought up from Serra’s junior varsity team. Houston completed seven of nine passes and a TD to Ryan Bosthat that enabled the Cavaliers to increase their lead to 28-12 shortly before halftime.
Tunai played early and was able to complete a touchdown pass to Jessie Chidichinedu but an injury kept him out the rest of the game.
Serra head coach Scott Altenberg hopes he will start in Friday’s non-league game at Los Alamitos, starting at 7 p.m. The usually powerful Griffins are off to a slow start at 0-2 with losses to Bay League power Inglewood, 20-7, on Aug. 21 and Huntington Beach, 31-15, last Friday.
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North gets first win vs. Narbonne
North Torrance High’s football team evened its record to 1-1 by downing host Narbonne 32-14 Friday in Harbor City.
The Saxons had a fine game from quarterback Ezra Silitia who completed 12 of 20 passes for 165 yards and three touchdowns. Receivers Vince Aleman, Jeremiah Jackson and Cason Bantad each caught TD passes. Junior Robby Hines had two catches for 68 yards.
Silitia also had one rushing touchdown as he ran for 44 yards on four carries.
North will visit Mary Star of the Sea at Daniels Field in San Pedro Friday at 7 p.m. The Gauchos (0-2) are at Fairfax for a 7 p.m. non-league game today.
Gardena fell to 0-2 after falling to host South East 34-21 last Friday in South Gate.
The Panthers visit King-Drew Medical Magnet today at 7 p.m. at Los Angeles Southwest College. The Golden Eagles (0-1) are coming off a 46-26 loss to host Culver City last Friday.
After an impressive 41-28 home win over Manhattan Beach Mira Costa on Aug. 21, Torrance High’s football team fell to host Redondo 35-14 last Friday.
The Tartars (1-1) trailed the Sea Hawks (2-0) 7-6 when quarterback Gibson Turner completed a 19-yard scoring pass to Issac Mora but Redondo, behind its strong defense, power running and the passing combination of junior quarterback Brady Grow and senior wide receiver Tyler Harper, proceeded to score 28 unanswered points to build a 35-6 lead after three periods.
Turner completed his second touchdown pass to Brandon Perez from 13 yards out in the fourth quarter before throwing a two-point conversion pass to Vaughn Reinart.
Torrance comes home to face Northwood High from Irvine Friday at 7 p.m.
Carson High’s football team improved to 2-0 by rolling over host Dorsey High 31-8 Friday.
The Colts set the stage for a showdown between 2-0 teams as they host Palos Verdes today at 7 p.m. It will be a match-up between two of Southern California’s top quarterbacks in Carson’s Chris Fields, III, and the Sea Kings’ Ryan Rakawski. At Palos Verdes last Friday, the Sea Kings held on for a 21-18 non-league win over Bishop Moore High from Orlando, Fla.
At San Pedro High last Friday, the Pirates coasted to a 42-28 win over West Torrance.
The Warriors (0-1) host Hawthorne (1-1) Friday at 7 p.m. The Cougars, under female head coach Jazmine Gamble, saw their record fall to 1-1 after getting crushed by host Dominguez High 60-0 Friday in Compton.
