Riverside City keeps SoCal atop major state football polls but NorCal's San Mateo and Modesto are chasing close
SAN MATEO – A last minute comeback enabled Riverside City College to hold onto its perfect record and the top spot in this week’s poll of California Community College football coaches, conducted by the JC Athletic Bureau. The Tigers and No. 2 College of San Mateo each received five first place votes. Now No. 4 Saddleback had the other No. 1 ballot -- after beating Moorpark, 36-20.
Riverside scored a TD with 25 seconds remaining to finally put down Long Beach CC, 31-28. The Tigers had trailed, 28-17, in the fourth quarter, before a pair of short TD passes by Jacob Barlage won it. They visit co-No. 8 San Diego Mesa this Saturday. San Mateo impressed at Fresno City College, holding the formerly No. 4 ranked Rams to just a field goal in scoring a 17-3 victory.
Modesto moved up one place to No. 3 this week, ahead of Saddleback, after downing American River, 38-20. Modesto visits San Mateo Saturday afternoon for a match of the north’s top two teams to close out non-league play. American River goes to now No. 7 Fresno. ARC fell to No. 16 (from 11th) after a second straight setback from a top four-ranked team -- having lost to CSM the previous week.
Ventura, the 2018 state runner-up (to Laney), is No. 5 after topping Palomar, 45-38. Ventura hosts No. 18 Fullerton Saturday. City College of San Francisco moved up to No. 6, from tenth, after downing visiting No. 7 Butte, 35-24. Butte dropped to No. 11. San Diego Mesa beat Grossmont, 49-14, and is now tied for No. 8 with College of the Canyons. COC (3-1) scored a 31-17 win over Cerritos to drop the previously unbeaten Falcons from to tenth from sixth.
National (state championship) Division teams complete non-league play this weekend and then take a bye week before opening league.
There are six remaining undefeated (4-0) teams in that division: Riverside, San Mateo, Modesto, Saddleback, SD Mesa, and Shasta.
The Northern California Football Conference’s American Division moves into the second week of league games.
Top games: Golden Coast: Reedley at Cabrillo & Monterey Peninsula at San Jose; Pacific 7: #25 Foothill at Yuba,
Foothill (4-0) moved into the 25th spot this week following a 32-20 non-league crossover win over previously No. 19 Reedley.
The Southern California Football Association will see American Metro League play begin on Saturday with No. 20 Chaffey taking its state-leading 14-game win streak to Compton. Non-league includes #22 Citrus at Hancock and Pasadena at #23 San Bernardino Valley.
TOP NCFC GAMES SATURDAY: #3 Modesto at #2 San Mateo, Siskiyous at #6 CCSF, #16 American River at # 7 Fresno, #17 Laney at #11 Butte, #21 Sequoias at #15 Shasta, Sacramento at #24 Sierra.
TOP SCFA GAMES SATURDAY: #1 Riverside at co-#8 SD Mesa, #4 Saddleback at #14 Mt. SAC, #18 Fullerton at #5 Ventura, co-#8 Canyons at Golden West, #10 Cerritos at #19 Long Beach, East LA at #12 Southwestern, #13 El Camino at Moorpark.
(Fred Baer, JC Athletic Bureau)
| JUNIOR COLLEGE ATHLETIC BUREAU COACHES POLL (Week 4) | CCCSIA FOOTBALL POLL (Week 4) | |||||||||
| RK | School | Record | Pts | Prev. | RK | School | Record | Pts | Prev. | |
| 1. | Riverside City (5) | 4-0 | 266 | 1 | 1. | Riverside City (8) | 4-0 | 271 | 1 | |
| 2. | College of San Mateo (5) | 4-0 | 263 | 2 | 2. | College of San Mateo (3) | 4-0 | 265 | 2 | |
| 3. | Modesto | 4-0 | 249 | 4 | 3. | Modesto | 4-0 | 252 | 3 | |
| 4. | Saddleback (1) | 4-0 | 229 | 3 | T4. | College of the Canyons | 3-1 | 196 | T-13 | |
| 5. | Ventura | 3-1 | 213 | 8 | T4. | City College of San Francisco | 3-1 | 196 | 8 | |
| 6. | City College of San Francisco | 3-1 | 210 | 10 | 6. | Fresno City | 3-1 | 194 | 4 | |
| 7. | Fresno City | 3-1 | 191 | 5 | 7. | Ventura | 3-1 | 191 | 9 | |
| T8. | San Diego Mesa | 4-0 | 188 | 9 | 8. | Saddleback | 4-0 | 180 | T-5 | |
| T8. | College of the Canyons | 3-1 | 188 | 13 | 9. | San Diego Mesa | 4-0 | 164 | 11 | |
| 10. | Cerritos | 3-1 | 155 | 6 | 10. | Chaffey | 4-0 | 153 | 12 | |
| 11. | Butte | 2-2 | 144 | 7 | 11. | Shasta | 4-0 | 141 | 16 | |
| 12. | Southwestern | 3-1 | 143 | 21 | T12. | Cerritos | 3-1 | 132 | 7 | |
| 13. | El Camino | 3-1 | 134 | 14 | T12. | Butte | 2-2 | 132 | T-5 | |
| 14. | Mt. San Antonio College | 3-1 | 132 | 18 | 14. | El Camino | 3-1 | 126 | 15 | |
| 15. | Shasta | 4-0 | 129 | 17 | 15. | Mt. San Antonio | 3-1 | 120 | 18 | |
| 16. | American River | 2-2 | 109 | 11 | 16. | American River | 2-2 | 110 | 10 | |
| 17. | Laney | 2-2 | 101 | 15 | 17. | Southwestern | 3-1 | 104 | T-21 | |
| 18. | Fullerton | 2-2 | 75 | 12 | 18. | Laney | 2-2 | 83 | 19 | |
| 19. | Long Beach City | 2-2 | 69 | 16 | 19. | San Bernardino Vally | 3-1 | 79 | 20 | |
| 20. | Chaffey | 4-0 | 63 | T-19 | 20. | Citrus | 4-0 | 74 | T-21 | |
| 21. | College of the Sequoias | 3-1 | 62 | 25 | 21. | Foothill | 4-0 | 56 | 23 | |
| 22. | Citrus | 4-0 | 39 | 23 | 22. | Fullerton | 2-2 | 53 | T-13 | |
| 23. | San Bernardino Valley | 3-1 | 32 | 22 | 23. | College of the Sequoias | 3-1 | 45 | RV | |
| 24. | Sierra | 2-2 | 31 | RV | 24. | Cabrillo | 3-0 | 38 | 25 | |
| 25. | Foothill | 4-0 | 29 | RV | 25. | Reedley | 3-1 | 34 | 17 | |
| Others: Bakersfield (27), Allan Hancock (20), Mt. San Jacinto (15), East Los Angeles (12), Reedley (11), Chabot (11), Feather River (10), Golden West (9), Diablo Valley (6), Los Medanos (5), Monterey Peninsula (4),San Joaquin Delta (3). | Others: Mt. San Jacinto (29), Allan Hancock (26), Sierra (23), Long Beach City (22), Monterey Peninsula (20), Golden West (13), San Joaquin Delta (11), Chabot (6). | |||||||||
| CCCFCA POLLS | ||||||||||
| SOCAL NATIONAL DIVISION (Week 4) | NORCAL NATIONAL DIVISION (Week 4) | |||||||||
| RK | School | Pts | PR | RK | School | Pts | PR | |||
| 1. | Riverside City | 39 | 1 | 1. | College of San Mateo (5) | 50 | 1 | |||
| 2. | Saddleback | 37 | 2 | 2. | Modesto | 45 | 2 | |||
| T3. | San Diego Mesa | 27 | 4 | 3. | Fresno City | 38 | 3 | |||
| T3. | Ventura | 27 | T-5 | 4. | City College of San Francisco | 35 | T-4 | |||
| 5. | College of the Canyons | 22 | T-8 | 5. | Shasta | 26 | 7 | |||
| 6. | Mt. San Antonio | 17 | 7 | 6. | Butte | 23 | T-4 | |||
| 7. | Southwestern | 15 | T-10 | 7. | American River | 21 | T-4 | |||
| 8. | Cerritos | 13 | 3 | 8. | College of the Sequoias | 13 | NR | |||
| T9. | Golden West | 7 | NR | 9. | Laney | 12 | 8 | |||
| T9. | El Camino | 7 | T-8 | 10. | Sierra | 7 | T-9 | |||
| SOCAL AMERICAN DIVISION (Week 4) | NORCAL AMERICAN DIVISION (Week 4) | |||||||||
| RK | School | Pts | PR | RK | School | Pts | PR | |||
| 1. | Chaffey (3) | 39 | 3 | 1. | Foothill (3) | 30 | 2 | |||
| 2. | Citrus | 33 | 5 | 2. | Monterey Peninsula | 26 | 3 | |||
| 3. | San Bernardino Valley (1) | 31 | 1 | T3. | Reedley | 23 | 1 | |||
| 4. | Allan Hancock | 29 | 2 | T3. | Cabrillo | 23 | 4 | |||
| 5. | Mt. San Jacinto | 28 | 4 | 4. | Hartnell | 17 | 5 | |||
| 6. | Antelope Valley | 16 | NR | 5. | Merced | 15 | 8 | |||
| 7. | Pasadena City | 15 | T-6 | 6. | Los Medanos | 13 | NR | |||
| 8. | Victor Valley | 12 | NR | 8. | De Anza | 9 | T-6 | |||
| 9. | College of the Desert | 8 | 9 | 9. | College of the Redwoods | 4 | T-6 | |||
| 10. | Santa Ana | 3 | 8 | T10. | Contra Costa | 2 | NR | |||
| T10. | Yuba | 2 | 9 | |||||||