Mt. San Antonio, RIverside City and San Mateo pace Coaches Football Poll; Others contend as season takes on November
SAN MATEO - Mt. San Antonio College remains a unanimous top pick, ahead of Riverside City College and College of San Mateo, in this week’s JC Athletic Bureau poll of California Community College Football Coaches Association members. The race for 3C2A state playoff berths enters the final two weeks, with showdowns for the four spots in each region.
Mt. SAC (8-0), the lone remaining National Division unbeaten, took all 19 first-place votes this week, totaling 475 points, and hosts No. 18 Long Beach CC (5-3) on Saturday before finishing Central League play on Nov. 16 against visiting No. 4 Golden West (7-1), which has moved up one poll position. No. 2 Riverside CC (7-1), the reigning state champ, has a Southern League clash Saturday with visiting No. 6 San Diego Mesa (7-1) and concludes play Nov. 16 at No. 15 Fullerton (5-3).
No. 3 College of San Mateo (7-1) all but wrapped up a third straight Bay 6 title with last week’s 51-7 win at rival City College of San Francisco and has now given the top three B6 teams their initial league setbacks. The defending NorCal region champion Bulldogs host winless San Joaquin Delta on Saturday, hoping to add to a 19-game home-field winning streak that includes the 2022 state crown.
Butte (7-1) moved back up one place to No. 5 this week and is the top Northern California “wildcard” berth contender. The Roadrunners trail No. 10 American River (5-3) by one game in the NorCal League. After beating Butte in one overtime a week ago, ARC needed two extra periods to turn back Sierra, 44-41, over the weekend, and leave the now No. 22 Wolverines tied for second place with Butte.
Modesto JC (6-2) moved up one spot to No. 7 this week and remains unbeaten (3-0) in the Valley League heading into its Nov. 16 VL finale with No. 13 College of the Sequoias (6-2). COS is 2-0 in the Valley heading into this Saturday’s rival contest with visiting No. 8 Fresno CC (6-2), which is 1-1 in the VL. With Contra Costa canceling its season, Valley teams play only four league games this year.
No. 9 El Camino (6-2) is the lone unbeaten in Northern League play -- after fourth place Bakersfield upset Ventura, 45-27, last week, dropping the Pirates (6-2) to No. 11 in the rankings (from the fourth position) – and into a second-place league tie with No. 12 College of the Canyons (6-2). Ventura has a comeback opportunity at El Camino on Saturday, while No. 14 Bakersfield (5-3) visits Canyons.
Although National (state championship) Division league play concludes Nov. 16, there is an extra week, Nov. 23, primarily involving the American Division. Two “extra” non-league National games are slated: No. 7 Modesto at No. 16 Foothill and Shasta at Sacramento.
American Division teams will play in regional title bowl games. No. 21 Pasadena (7-0) of the Pacific and the winner of the Nov. 16 Metro finale -- Chaffey (7-1) at Victor Valley (3-5), both 3-0 in league -- is the expected SoCal match-up. In the north, No. 24 Monterey Peninsula (8-0) leads the Golden Coast -- but still has a Nov. 16 contest with co-second place Merced. Three teams are still unbeaten in Pacific 7 play: No. 25 De Anza (7-0), College of the Redwoods (6-1), and College of the Siskiyous (5-2).
(Fred Baer, JC Athletic Bureau)
| JCAB FOOTBALL POLL (Nov. 4) | CCCSIA FOOTBALL POLL (Nov. 4) | ||||||||||||
| RK | School | Record | Pts | PR | RK | School | Record | Pts | PR | ||||
| 1. | Mt. San Antonio (19) | 8-0 | 475 | 1 | 1. | Mt. San Antonio | 8-0 | 174 | T-1 | ||||
| 2. | Riverside City | 7-1 | 446 | 2 | 2. | Riverside | 7-1 | 160 | 3 | ||||
| 3. | College of San Mateo | 7-1 | 435 | 3 | 3. | San Mateo | 7-1 | 158 | 4 | ||||
| 4. | Golden West | 7-1 | 409 | 5 | 4. | Butte | 7-1 | 155 | T-1 | ||||
| 5. | Butte | 7-1 | 383 | T-6 | 5. | Golden West | 7-1 | 142 | 5 | ||||
| 6. | San Diego Mesa | 7-1 | 360 | T-6 | 6. | San Diego Mesa | 7-1 | 133 | 6 | ||||
| 7. | Modesto JC | 6-2 | 363 | 8 | 7. | Modesto | 6-2 | 129 | 9 | ||||
| 8. | Fresno City | 6-2 | 322 | 9 | 8. | Fresno | 6-2 | 122 | 7 | ||||
| 9. | El Camino | 6-2 | 300 | 10 | 9. | Ventura | 6-2 | 100 | 8 | ||||
| 10. | American River | 5-3 | 292 | 11 | 10. | Canyons | 6-2 | 98 | 10 | ||||
| 11. | Ventura | 6-2 | 287 | 4 | 11. | El Camino | 6-2 | 87 | 11 | ||||
| 12. | Canyons | 6-2 | 271 | 12 | 12. | Sequoias | 6-2 | 85 | 12 | ||||
| 13. | Sequoias | 6-2 | 233 | 14 | T13. | American River | 5-3 | 82 | 15 | ||||
| 14. | Bakersfield | 5-3 | 211 | 18 | T13. | Bakersfield | 5-3 | 82 | 13 | ||||
| 15. | Fullerton | 5-3 | 204 | 16 | 15. | Fullerton | 5-3 | 60 | 18 | ||||
| 16. | Foothill | 5-2 | 190 | 19 | 16. | Pasadena City | 7-0 | 59 | 21 | ||||
| 17. | Saddleback | 5-3 | 173 | 13 | 17. | Foothill | 5-2 | 57 | 17 | ||||
| 18. | Long Beach City | 5-3 | 155 | 15 | 18. | Saddleback | 5-3 | 55 | 14 | ||||
| 19. | Mt. San Jacinto | 5-3 | 113 | 22 | 19. | Mt. San Jacinto | 5-3 | 54 | 19 | ||||
| 20. | Diablo Valley | 4-4 | 101 | 17 | 20. | Long Beach | 5-3 | 47 | 16 | ||||
| 21. | Pasadena City | 7-0 | 79 | 21 | 21. | Monterey Peninsula | 8-0 | 44 | 24 | ||||
| 22. | Sierra | 4-4 | 77 | 20 | 22. | Redwoods | 6-1 | 28 | T-22 | ||||
| 23. | Allan Hancock | 4-4 | 68 | 25 | 23. | De Anza | 7-0 | 26 | RV | ||||
| 24. | Monterey Peninsula | 8-0 | 63 | 23 | 24. | Diablo Valley | 4-4 | 24 | T-22 | ||||
| 25. | De Anza | 7-0 | 49 | 24 | 25. | Allan Hancock | 4-4 | 21 | 20 | ||||
| Others: Redwoods, 23; Cerritos, 17; Siskiyous, 13; Palomar, 11, Chaffey, 10; Shasta, 8; San Jose City, 7; San Francisco, 5; Reedley, 5; Moorpark, 2; Santa Ana, 2; Cigtrus, 1; Laney, 1; L.A. Southwest, 1; Sacramento City, 1. | Others: Chaffey, 20; Santa Ana, 14; San Jose City, 11; Glendale, 10; Sierra, 9;Siskiyous, 7; Cerritos, 6; Citrus, 6; L.A. Southwest, 5; Laney, 4; Palomar, 1. | ||||||||||||