Grossmont Will Play in Bowl at San Diego City

Everything seems to be going right for Jim Symington, Grossmont College football coach.

His string of good fortune began last Saturday when Grossmont defeated San Bernardino Valley, 27-7, to assure the Griffins of at least a tie for the Foothill Conference championship.

Later, he learned that Grossmont had won the title outright when College of the Desert was upset by Imperial Valley, 24-23, and Mount San Jacinto lost to Antelope Valley, 14-7.

And Tuesday, Grossmont was invited to play in the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Bowl Friday, Dec. 6 on San Diego City’s Broderick Field (formerly Balboa Stadium). The Griffins (4-0 in conference and 8-1 overall) quickly accepted.

“We’re really pleased about it,” Symington said. “We’ve always supported the idea of a community college bowl game in San Diego, and when we learned there would be one, we set our sights to play in it.”

It will mark the Griffins’ second-straight postseason appearance. Last year, after winning the Foothill title, they lost to Ventura, 28-9, in the Ventura Lions Bowl.

Harry West, National Football Foundation bowl chairman, said Southwestern, Fullerton and Glendale are being considered for the other berth. West, San Diego City athletic director, said he would announce Grossmont’s opponent later this week, probably Thursday.

For several reasons, it is almost certain that Grossmont’s opponent will be Southwestern. First, Grossmont and Southwestern, who haven’t played since 1977, have a natural rivalry because the schools are about 17 miles apart. Second, Southwestern would attract a bigger crowd than either Fullerton or Glendale. Finally, the Apaches’ record (8-1) is as good as Glendale’s and better than that of Fullerton, which is 6-2.

West admitted that Southwestern is the most logical choice.

“I would have to say that Southwestern looks very good,” he said. “They’ve clinched second place in the Mission Conference, and having two local teams play would be a good draw.”

Symington said he didn’t care which team Grossmont played, but added that Southwestern would present the most intriguing matchup.

“A game with them would be the most challenging,” he said, “and the most fun for the kids because they all went to school together and know each other.”

Meanwhile, the Griffins will try to prepare themselves for a rather meaningless regular-season finale against College of the Desert Saturday night in Valley Stadium.

“I don’t think it will be difficult to get the kids up for the game,” Symington said, “even though we figured it was going to be for the championship before they lost.

“For one, we’ve got a seven-game winning streak going. It’s the longest in the school’s history and we’d like to keep it going. And, Desert is the only team to beat us in two years in the Foothill Conference (Desert beat the Griffins, 30-27, last year). We’d like to pay them back for that, and keep our momentum going for the bowl game.”

Glendale, which has expressed an interest in playing in the San Diego game, will likely play Los Angeles Pierce in the San Fernando Valley Kiwanis Bowl or Taft in the Shrine Potato Bowl.

Hal Sherbeck, Fullerton coach, said he will not accept a bowl invitation until after the Hornets’ game against Mt. San Antonio Saturday night. Tuesday, he declined to accept an invitation to play Saddleback in the Orange County PONY Bowl.