Ventura and Golden West take over position in coaches football poll with unbeaten 8-0 records
SAN MATEO – With only two weeks of regular season play remaining, there is, finally, the first season change at the top of the JC Athletic Bureau’s poll for the California Community College Football Coaches Association. Golden West College and Ventura College, both 8-0, are tied for first place this week with 341 points after season-long leader and defending 3C2A state champion College of San Mateo (now 7-1) lost for the first time in 18 games on Saturday, 13-6, to ten-decade rival City College of San Francisco.
That also ended CSM’s (modern-day) school record 26-game home field winning skein over four seasons (including a pair of state title games at home). Now co-No. 4-ranked San Mateo had put together a 17-game overall skein since losing at century-old rival Modesto in a 2024 non-league contest -- later defeating the Pirates in the 2024 state playoffs, en route to the title.
Golden West and Ventura are the lone remaining National (state championship) Division unbeatens. Both face stiff challenges down the stretch – as does now No. 11 CCSF (6-2), with a 5-game win streak---currently alone (3-0) atop the Bay 6 League. Four B6 teams remain in postseason contention for the region’s six playoff berths. CCSF hosts No. 19 Foothill this week and closes at No. 8 Diablo Valley. San Mateo, which has defeated the latter duo, closes against the bottom of the league.
Golden West, after turning back then No. 9 Cerritos, 27-19, last week, finishes Central League play with other upper-half foes, hosting College of the Canyons Saturday, then visiting current co-leader No. 6-ranked Fullerton (7-1) in the Nov. 8 finale. Fullerton visits Cerritos this Saturday. Ventura is alone atop the Northern League (at 5-0) and finishes with similar upper-half battles – first at Long Beach, then hosting second-place Mt. San Antonio (7-1), which now shares the No. 4 poll position with San Mateo.
No. 7 El Camino and No. 9 Saddleback are both 7-1 overall and pace the Southern League with 5-0 records. They meet in Mission Viejo in the Nov. 8 finale -- after first dealing with a pair of 6-2 ranked teams this week: No. 14 Southwestern at Saddleback and No. 13 Riverside at ElCo.
No. 3 Butte (7-1) is the new Northern California pacesetter and the only NorCal League team with an overall winning record. The Roadrunners face a challenge from co-second-place Sierra in the Nov. 8 finale. New in the top ten this week is No. 10 College of the Sequoias, which visits No. 16 Fresno Saturday, before a potential finale with 4-0 Valley League teams: No. 12 Modesto at COS on Nov. 8. Fresno can remain in contention with a win over the Giants.
| JCAB FOOTBALL COACHES POLL (Oct. 27) | |||||
| RK | School | Record | Pts | PR | |
| T1. | Ventura (6) | 8-0 | 341 | 3 | |
| T1. | Golden West (8) | 8-0 | 341 | 2 | |
| 3. | Butte | 7-1 | 295 | 4 | |
| T4. | Mt. San Antonio | 7-1 | 293 | 5 | |
| T4. | San Mateo | 7-1 | 293 | 1 | |
| 6. | Fullerton | 7-1 | 283 | 6 | |
| 7. | El Camino | 7-1 | 262 | 8 | |
| 8. | Diablo Valley | 7-1 | 248 | 7 | |
| 9. | Saddleback | 7-1 | 243 | 10 | |
| 10. | Sequoias | 7-1 | 235 | 11 | |
| 11. | San Francisco | 6-2 | 211 | 16 | |
| 12. | Modesto | 6-2 | 184 | 13 | |
| 13. | Riverside | 6-2 | 179 | 15 | |
| 14. | Southwestern | 6-2 | 162 | 12 | |
| 15. | Cerritos | 6-2 | 156 | 9 | |
| 16. | Fresno | 4-4 | 125 | 20 | |
| 17. | Monterey Peninsula | 6-2 | 110 | 14 | |
| 18. | De Anza | 8-0 | 88 | 19 | |
| 19. | Foothill | 4-4 | 66 | 18 | |
| 20. | Citrus | 4-4 | 58 | 17 | |
| 21. | Victor Valley | 7-1 | 55 | NR | |
| 22. | Feather River | 7-1 | 53 | RV | |
| 23. | Moorpark | 4-4 | 49 | RV | |
| 24. | Allan Hancock | 4-4 | 43 | RV | |
| 25. | Santa Monica | 7-1 | 31 | RV | |
| Others: Antelope Valley, 30; Los Medanos, 17; San Diego | |||||
| Mesa, 13; Sacramento City, 12; Pasadena City, 11; Santa | |||||
| Rosa, 11; Sierra, 11; Long Beach City, 10; bakersfield, 8; | |||||
| Canyons, 8; Coalinga, 6; Mt. San Jacinto, 1; Redwoods, 1; | |||||
| Siskiyous, 1. | |||||
(Fred Baer, JC Athletic Bureau)