Patriots defeat El Camino on Homecoming Night

Patriots+defeat+El+Camino+on+Homecoming+Night

Carlos Vega, Sports Editor

Friday night’s Homecoming Game on October 10 was a game to remember. Blue and gold vibrantly bounced  off the home crowd bleachers and the answer to the question “Who’s House?” was heard across Lake Balboa. Our Patriots won their first game of the season with a final score of 19-14. The Patriots began the season 0-5 as they failed to put up a win against some of the top schools in Southern California.  However, the team improved their record to 1-5 with Friday night’s win. Birmingham pulled off an impressive comeback win, shutting down El Camino in the second half and scoring 19 points to defeat the Conquistadors. The game was a roller coaster ride with many twists and turns. For starters, the first quarter saw two interceptions. The first happened when El Camino intercepted a pass with 3 minutes remaining in the quarter. Then, with 5 seconds remaining,  the Patriot defense intercepted an El Camino pass. El Camino scored the first points of the game with 5 minute remaining in the second quarter to go up 7-0. El Camino then added another touchdown with 30 seconds remaining in the first half to go up 14-0.

After the amazing halftime show which included performances by our cheerleaders, band, color guard, and an awesome fireworks show, our team scored a touchdown with 6 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. The crowd went wild and the Patriots were back in the game.  Birmingham then quickly forced an El Camino fumble and took over with 5 minutes 50 seconds left in the 3rd.  Ten seconds later the Birmingham bleachers erupted as the team scored their second touchdown of the game. Unfortunately, the Patriots missed the extra point and entered the 4th quarter down by one, 13-14. Fortunately, the team’s defense continued to play well as they shut out El Camino for the remainder of the game. Birmingham fumbled the ball with 8 minutes remaining in the 4th but made up for it by intercepting an El Camino pass with 6 minutes remaining in the game. The Patriots squeezed in a final touchdown to go up 19-14 and ultimately won the game. The Patriot’s second league game is against Cleveland on the 17th of October.