San Diego County’s four community college football teams were in action last Saturday against one another in conference play — for the first and only time this season.
The Southwestern College Jaguars and the San Diego Mesa Olympians are members of the American Mountain Conference; the Grossmont College Griffins and Palomar Comets are members of the National Southern Conference.
Southwestern flattened host Mesa, 55-7, to even its conference record at 1-1 and improve to 4-1, while Mesa dropped to 0-2 in conference play, 1-4 overall.
Meanwhile, Palomar defeated Grossmont, 41-24, to improve to 1-1 in conference play, 3-2 overall, while the Griffins dropped to 0-2 in conference play, 2-3 overall.
In non-conference play, Southwestern rolled over Grossmont, 35-6, in the teams’ season opener on Sept. 6. The Jags, who play the Griffins and Comets in alternating years, are guaranteed of finishing undefeated against their San Diego JC competition in 2014.
That’s likewise for Palomar, which defeated Mesa, 33-6, on Sept. 20.
Pigskin parade
The California Community College Athletic Association governs JC football in the Golden State. Currently, there are 10 conferences playing in two divisions in the state with 69 total teams.
Conferences within the Southern California Football Association include the National Southern, National Northern, National Central, American Mountain, American Pacific; the Northern California Football Association features five likewise conferences: American-Golden Coast, American-Pacific 7, National-Bay 6 National-Nor Cal and National-Valley.
Post-season play features both standalone bowl games and a statewide playoff system.
Southwestern has appeared in bowl games in each of the past two years — and won them both. The Jaguars defeated San Bernardino, 34-23, in last year’s Patriotic Bowl.
Grossmont lost, 64-33, to Cerritos in last year’s Western State Bowl.
Game on
SWC’s lone loss this season was 34-31 to visiting Victor Valley on Sept. 27 in a battle of then unbeaten 3-0 teams. The Jags missed “multiple opportunities” to score, in the words of head coach Ed Carberry. He pointed to one series in particular in which the hosts advanced the ball to the one-yard line but could not score on fourth down.
“They stopped us,” Carberry said flatly after the game. “They deserved to win.”
The Jags took out any frustrations they may have had last Saturday against the Olympians at Mesa College. Southwestern built a commanding 38-0 lead and tacked on 17 more points after the hosts finally got on the scoreboard.
Tofi Paopao completed six of nine passing attempts for 145 yards and three touchdowns while Luis Perez had eight completions in 13 passing attempts for 98 yards and two touchdowns.
Kevin Mills had three catches for 26 yards and two touchdowns while three other SWC receivers each caught one TD pass: Sergio Bailey (one reception for 79 yards), Travis Gardner (one catch for 34 yards) and Tony Jackson (one catch for 22 yards).
Devonta Wilson scored one rushing touchdown while teammate Chyl Robinson led the visitors with 36 yards on 10 carries.
The Southwestern defense was active as well with five sacks, eight tackles for losses, two fumble recoveries and three interceptions.
Trevor Kemp had two sacks while Blake Wilson, Ray Clapper and Kalvin Waters each recorded one sack. Kemp, a Bonita Vista High School alumnus, also was credited with 2.5 tackles for losses.
Wilson, Ty Stevens and Aaron Leon each recorded picks in the game, with Stevens returning his interception 70 yards for a touchdown.
Wilson, who returned his pick 33 yards, also forced a fumble and recovered a fumble while ex-Spartan standout Mike Molina also had one fumble recovery.
SWC out-gained Mesa 341-202 in total yards.
Andres Burgoin (28 yards) and Jack Flatau (27 yards) each kicked field goals to help boost the Jags’ offense while Zack Kozlik averaged 47.0 yards on three punts, including one 61-yarder.
Hilltop alumnus Omar Hernandez averaged 60.6 yards on five kickoffs, with three touchbacks.
Southwestern has a bye week this weekend before taking on East Los Angeles (1-1 in conference play, 1-3 overall) on Oct. 18.
In other games on Oct. 4, American Mountain leader Victor Valley improved to 2-0 in conference play, 5-0 overall, after tackling East L.A., 47-14, while Mt. San Jacinto also remained unbeaten in conference play with a 66-2 win over winless El Camino-Compton Center.
San Bernardino picked up its first conference win by throttling visiting College of the Desert 45-23.
American Mountain Conference
2014 Football Standings
(Through Oct. 4)
Victor Valley 2-0, 5-0
Mt. San Jacinto 2-0, 3-2
Southwestern 1-1, 4-1
San Bernardino 1-1, 3-2
Desert 1-1, 2-3
East Los Angeles 1-1, 1-3
San Diego Mesa 0-2, 1-4
El Camino-Compton Center 0-2, 0-5
Southwestern Jaguar
2014 Football Schedule
September
6: Southwestern 35, Grossmont 6
13: Southwestern 52, Santa Monica 27
20: Southwestern 41, L.A. Pierce 14
27: Victor Valley 34, Southwestern 31
October
4: Southwestern 55, San Diego Mesa 7
11: Bye
18: East Los Angeles at Southwestern
25: Southwestern at Mt. San Jacinto
November
1: Southwestern at College of the Desert
8: San Bernardino at Southwestern
15: Southwestern at El Camino-Compton Center
