City College of San Francisco wins eighth state football title with 22-19 thriller over Riverside City

CCSF won the 2021 CCCAA Football State Championship. (Photo by Matt Brown)
CCSF won the 2021 CCCAA Football State Championship. (Photo by Matt Brown)
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December 11, 2021
WALNUT -- Devan Walker caught a 28-yard pass from Jack Newman with 9:21 remaining to give City College of San Francisco the winning touchdown and a 22-19 victory over reigning champion Riverside City College in the 2021 California Community Athletic Association football championship Saturday afternoon at Mt. San Antonio College's Hilmer Lodge Stadium.  
 
State and nationally top-ranked CCSF (13-0) intercepted opponent passes to end potential game-winning drives to win a third "title" in the past month, including taking both the Bay 6 league and Northern California championships from defending champion College of San Mateo. This time the Rams won a record eighth official state football crown. Their last CCCAA title came in 2015.
 
D'Andre Greeley had his state-leading tenth interception of the year - on his own three with 1:58 remaining - to ensure the trophy. CCSF ran out the clock to end it. His ninth theft had stopped San Mateo in the NorCal finals the previous week. 
 
Before CCSF drove for the winning points, Riverside (10-3) had apparently taken control. The Tigers recovered a fumbled punt return on the CCSF 5-yard line and punched in the go-ahead touchdown on two runs by Thomas Kinslow -- for a 19-14 lead with 12:14 left in the game. 
 
But the Rams came right back, driving 66 yards on six plays for the clincher, engineered by Walker and Newman.  Walker, a 5-9, 180-pound running back, was the offensive player of the game, leading all rushers with 91 yards (17 carries) and a rushing TD – plus the winning TD reception.
 
Newman, the game MVP, completed 17 of 30 passes for 224 yards and two scores. The All-America quarterback also had a 2-point conversion pass (to Roderick Gaskins, Jr.) on the final TD to increase the margin from one to a critical three points.
 
Riverside had been very much in the game on the prowess of All-America kicker Ricardo Chavez. He booted a 59-yard field goal as first halftime expired to give Riverside a 10-7 lead. That was just a yard short of the JC/CC (state and national) record of 60 yards, held by three players. Chavez then kicked a 47-yarder after the intermission for a 13-7 lead. CCSF had fumbled away the period opening kickoff return at its own 33.
 
CCSF took a 14-13 lead, however, at the start of the fourth quarter. Newman connected with Traivion Drummer from 13 yards out for a game tie, leading to a marathon of PAT attempts, marred by two penalties. A successful kick by Nick Hill finally provided a single-digit lead (although the defensive had drawn a flag on that play too).   
 
Riverside quarterback Jordan Barton completed 21 of 34 passes for 234 yards and scrambled for 37 net yards on 11 carries
 
He led the Tigers on an 88-yard, 14-play second-quarter drive that provided the game's first points on a 13-yard run by Juwan Tucker with 6:09 left before halftime. San Francisco came right back to tie it on a 60-yard drive, capped by Walker's 3-yard TD run.
 
Dean Connors led Riverside rushers with 63 yards on 14 carries. The Tigers had 391 yards of total offense. CCSF totaled 361 yards. 
 
The Bob Stangel defensive player of the game award went to Riverside linebacker Noa Purcell, who had nine tackles (eight solo). 
 
--It was the second state title for Jimmy Collins as CCSF head coach, adding to two he won as a quarterback for the Rams under coach George Rush.
 
(Fred Baer, CCCSIA)