Comets hang with Warriors at half, but fall 38-20

ESCONDIDO, CA (11/2/2019) – Palomar was back home against El Camino College after being on the road for three weeks and lost 38-20 to move to 0-3 in conference play.

The Comets were behind 14-0 halfway through the first quarter when Johnny Armentrout caught a 36-yard pass from Rodney Thompson for the Palomar score. Then early in the second quarter, the Comets kicked a field goal to make the score 14-10, El Camino. The Warriors went down and kicked a field goal of themselves and right at the end of the half, the Comets kicked another one to make it 17-13 at halftime. The Comets didn't score again until halfway through the fourth quarter when Armentrout had a 13-yard pass this time from Thompson.

Palomar had five forced fumbles on the night and they recovered three of them. Giovanni Herrera forced a fumble on the Palomar 7-yard line with about five minutes to go in the first quarter when El Camino was threatening to score for the third time. The Comets drove 84 yards on 16 plays to set up the first field goal. Vavega Sialoi forced another fumble in the second quarter and he recovered the ball on the El Camino 24-yard line. The Comets then ran six plays to set up the 18-yard field goal to trail by four at the half. Kameron Camp also forced a fumble on the night. This time El Camino was on the Palomar 24-yard line when Camp stripped the ball and he recovered it on the Palomar 21-yard line. David Quintanilla got his second interception of the season tonight when he grabbed the pass from El Camino's Jerman Gotoy on the Palomar 43-yard line.

Thompson was 21-40 and threw for 174 yards with two touchdown passes. He rushed for 78 yards on 18 carries with a long of 27. Damon Wigan had 18 rushing yards on five carries with a long of seven. Johnny Armentrout had 104 yards on nine receptions with a long of 36. Twayne Reed Jr. recorded 33 yards on four reception with a long of 13. Isaiah Batton had 14 yards on two receptions.

Preston Dennard had five punts on the night for 89 yards. He had a long of 44 yards and one blocked punt. Mark Meader was 2-2 on field goals and 2-2 on point-after attempts. He had four kickoffs for 163 yards with one out-of-bounds. Lamar Raboteau had five kickoff returns for 126 yards with an average of 25.2 and a long of 34.

Kevin McKinzie led the team in tackles with eight on the night with one forced fumble. Wesley Huizor also had eight tackles on the night with two tackles-for-loss for seven yards. Tyrus Hodgins ended the night with seven tackles and two tackles-for-loss for five yards. Herrera also had seven tackles and one tackle-for-loss for three yards. Sialoi had seven tackles and one tackle-for-loss for 14 yards.

The Comets had 301 offensive yards, 174 passing and 127 rushing. They ran 77 plays with an average gain of 3.9 per play. The defense allowed 353 yards, 180 passing and 173 rushing.

Palomar falls to 2-6 overall and 0-3 in conference. They will face Cerritos College on Nov. 9 for their final road of the season at 6 p.m. before returning home to face San Diego Mesa College at 6 p.m. for the Alumni Recognition Game.