Comets show improvement, but come up short to Warriors

ESCONDIDO, CA (9/9/2023) – Palomar College hosted El Camino College in their home opener and lost 35-24.

The Comet offense put up just about 400 yards, including 221 passing from sophomore quarterback Clay Omohundro. Palomar found themselves down 7-0 heading into the second quarter but freshman Micah Johnson ran the ball in for a 2-yard touchdown run to even the score. El Camino answered with two more touchdowns before the half ended to take a 21-7 lead.

Palomar, showing adversity and grit, responded on their opening drive of the second half. Omohundro heaved the ball to sophomore receiver Kyri Shoels for a 78-yard touchdown reception to cut the Warriors' lead to seven. The Comets tacked on three more after Ammanuel Kidanemariam nailed a 25-yard field goal with 1:43 left in the third to edge closer. Everything seemed to be going the Comets' way at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Freshman linebacker Jaiden Letua had a strip-sack and ran it back for a touchdown, but it was called back to the 18-yard line after a penalty. It officially went down as a 10-yard sack and a 63-yard fumble recovery. The Comet offense got the ball over the goal line seconds later when Omohundro had a 7-yard pass to freshman Nate Washington to give the Comets a 24-21 lead. The Warriors took over from there, scoring two more touchdowns to make the final score 35-24. 

The run game was once again successful for the Comets, totaling 178 rushing yards. Sophomore Omarion Ireland finished with 134 yards on 22 carries with a long of 31 yards. Sophomore De'Marcus Carr finished with 43 yards on 15 carries. The passing game was significantly improved from last week as the Comets doubled their passing yardage. Sophomores Shoels and Caleb Armstrong were the leading receivers for Palomar. Shoels totaled 89 yards on three catches and one touchdown. Armstrong had 61 yards on three receptions with a long of 33 yards. 

On the defensive side of the ball, the front seven for the Comets continued to dominate by allowing only 104 rushing yards. Letua finished with two sacks, totaling 16 yards and three tackles-for-loss at 22 yards. As a team, the defense finished with 10 tackles-for-loss totaling 47 yards. The defensive backs had seven pass breakups.

The Comets (1-1) will look to get back in the win column on Saturday when they travel to College of the Canyons (0-2) for a 4 p.m. kickoff.