The Long Beach City College Football team defeated the El Camino Warriors 55-48 in their final conference game on Saturday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium. With the win, the Vikings clinched their third-consecutive National Central conference championship and their fourth-straight War Axe win.
The War Axe trophy represents the Vikings' and Warriors' mascots and is awarded each year to the winner of the cross-town rivalry game.
The Vikings wasted no time getting on the scoreboard by opening the game with a 45 yard throw from sophomore quarterback Grant Lowary to sophomore wide receiver Mike Wilson for the first touchdown of the game. The Warriors answered back with a 33 yard field goal with eight minutes left in the quarter. Lowary and Wilson took to the air again with another touchdown to end the quarter with a 14-3 lead.
In the second quarter, the Vikings covered 84 yards in four plays and Lowary flew one into the end zone to sophomore wide receiver Cedric Byrd for the Vikings' third touchdown. El Camino was next up to put up points to keep the Vikings within reach.
Freshman kicker Clay D'Amico rose to the occasion by nailing a 45 yard field goal to extend the lead for the Vikings 24-10. Overall, D'Amico kicked two field goals, was two-for-two in extra points and totaled eight points for Long Beach.
After D'Amico's field goal, El Camino put themselves back on the board with another touchdown. Byrd then returned the Warriors' kick-off with an 87 yard touchdown. The Warriors had one more in them in the half and scored one more touchdown to bring the score up to 31-24, but it wasn't enough for to take the lead away from the Vikings.
Long Beach's defense silenced El Camino in the third quarter. Freshman defensive back Justin Prince totaled 11 tackles for the game with sophomore defensive back Guy Alford and sophomore defensive lineman Adebayo Soremekun were right behind him with seven tackles each.
In the beginning of the second half, D'Amico hit his second field goal from 29 yards, freshman running back Elijah Bynum scored his first touchdown and Byrd ended the third quarter with his third end zone run to bring the score up 48-24.
The Warriors came out into the fourth quarter with some offensive momentum. They scored in the 12th minute, followed by a fumble, in which was recovered and scored into a 45 yard touchdown by defensive back Tim Tyler.
The Warriors then took back the control of the game and added two more touchdowns and a field goal to the board, but still was unable to catch up to Long Beach. The Vikings finalized their third conference title win, which they share with Riverside City College and Mount San Antonio College, 55-48.
With the victory, the Vikings' also clinched their fourth-straight bowl game appearance. Please stay tuned to www.lbccvikings.com for further information regarding the bowl game.