Cerritos and El Camino continue rivalry

When Cerritos College and El Camino College face each other in football, there's more at stake than just bragging rights and a recruiting advantage. Since they both joined the Metropolitan Conference and started playing each other in 1962, the schools have also played for the ownership of the Milk Can Trophy, a milk jug that is possessed by the winner of the game for the rest of the year. This Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at Falcon Stadium, the two will square off for the 39th time, with the Warriors holding a 24-12-2 advantage in the series. Last year, Cerritos posted a 29-26 win and the contest on Saturday will also serve as the college's anniual Homecoming Game.

"The Metro Conference was formed in 1962 and creating trophies to be awarded to the winners was a way to try and generate interest and rivalries," said Falcon head coach Frank Mazzotta, who has been at the helm since 1978 and has a 10-20 record in the series. "Cerritos was built on dairyland and I think El Camino was once a dairy, so the Milk Can seemed like a good trophy to play for."

"One of my best friends in college football is Frank Mazzotta," said El Camino head coach John Featherstone, who has been the head coach since 1985 and is 18-9 in the series. "He has always run a great program and we like playing them. I'm glad we've kept the tradition going. We have our hands full every time we play them. We've had some really good games and the tradition is great."

The Milk Can Trophy displays the score of each game and is awarded to the winning team at the conclusion of the game. Cerritos has won the last four meetings, with the series resuming last year after a two-year hiatus, while El Camino has had two six-game winning streaks in the series.

Cerritos also plays for the Crosstown Cup with Long Beach City, while El Camino competes with LBCC for the War Ax Trophy and the Peace Pipe Trophy with Bakersfield College.

"We try not to make a big deal about the trophy and try to focus on winning a football game," added Mazzotta. "They've had our number for the majority of the series, and that's because Feather is a great coach and has put together some really good teams over there. But I'm going to talk with the team about the history of the rivalry and we'll see how it plays out on Saturday."