Community College Football Preview : Saddleback, Despite Questions, Is Sure to Have Another Strong Season

By STEVE KRESAL

Sept. 10, 1986 12 AM PT

Sure, Saddleback won a share of the national championship for community colleges last season. The Gauchos finished 11-0, the same as Snow, Utah, and the two were declared co-champions by the J.C. Grid-Wire.

Sure, the Gauchos won the Mission Conference for the ninth straight time, and defeated Fullerton, 32-13, in the PONY Bowl.

Sure, Saddleback is picked to repeat as conference champions despite the loss of eight starters on defense.

But don’t expect Coach Ken Swearingen to make any preseason predictions about his team, other than it will show up. He doesn’t want to think about repeating as national champion or winning the conference.

Last season, after the Gauchos started by beating El Camino, 48-14, Swearingen wasn’t willing to make any predictions about his team. It’s the same thing this season.

“You just can never be sure,” he said. “Last season we just didn’t know. I wasn’t sure if we were good or El Camino was bad. You have to play about half your games before you can really tell.

“We have a lot of people who could be good,” he said. “In fact, they might even be very good, we just don’t know.”

Sure.

But that’s just the offense. Defensive coordinator Vince McCullough, who runs the defense, likewise is lacking in specifics.

“We have a lot of bodies but we’re just so undecided out there, we can’t be sure. It’s so early,” McCullough said.

The main reason for Saddleback’s success last season was sophomore quarterback Jason Schmid, now at USC. He completed 196 of 356 attempts for 2,882 yards and 23 touchdowns. He also rushed for 247 yards and four touchdowns.

“A great quarterback can make a good team great,” Swearingen said. “And a good quarterback can make a great team good. Last season Jason (Schmid) made us a great team. This season were have a chance to be either good or great.”

This season, the pressure of guiding the Gauchos’ no-huddle offense will fall to sophomore Pat Hegarty, who threw only eight passes as a freshman. The Tustin graduate will be backed up by sophomore Jeff Bielman from Irvine, who will start at slot or wide receiver.

Last season, Saddleback surprised El Camino in the opening game with a no-huddle offense and scored 41 points in the first half. “We’re planning to use it (the no-huddle offense) again,” Swearingen said. “But we will add a few more things just to keep the defense guessing.”

The Gauchos’ passing game will benefit from the return of wide receiver Bret Mersola. He left Saddleback this spring to accept a scholarship at the University of Florida, but changed his mind and returned for his sophomore season. Mersola had 52 catches for five touchdowns and 653 yards playing only the last five games as a wide receiver. He also scored six touchdowns as a tailback.

The Gauchos also return both starters in the backfield. Fullback Roger Fickling was the leading rusher with 603 yards and nine touchdowns on 150 carries. Tailback John Jungkeit gained 235 yards in 70 carries and scored three touchdowns.

The defense returns three starters: nose guard Tyler Hinds, defensive end Greg Conradt and linebacker Todd Pearlman.

The secondary is a concern because only three sophomores return. Brendan Callanan and Rudy Figueroa should see time at safety as will Jondon Franks at cornerback.

Freshman Dennis Erk, a first-team Times’ All County player from Mission Viejo High, is also expected to play.

Mission Conference notes

The annual sports information directors’ poll picked Saddleback to win its 10th consecutive conference title. Southwestern was picked second, Riverside third and Grossmont, which was one of the original members of the conference when it formed in 1970, returns and was picked fourth. The Griffins (9-1-1) won the last two Foothill Conference championships and met Mission Conference second-place finishers Southwestern (9-1-1) in the Hall of Fame Bowl. The teams played to a 35-35 tie. The addition of former Edison High School Coach Bill Workman at Orange Coast was enough to get the Pirates picked fifth, tied with Palomar. Rancho Santiago is rated seventh, Citrus eighth, San Diego Mesa ninth and San Diego City 10th. . . . Southwestern appears to be the most serious challenger to the title-happy Gauchos with quarterback Brad Platt (who completed 110 of 221 for 1,483 yards and 7 touchdowns) returning. Running back Danny Holmes is also back. The Apache defense was tops in the conference last season, allowing an average of 236.2 yards a game. Tony Gullotto and Mark Como return on the defensive line, Jason Adelnan at linebacker and Rick Joseph at defensive back. Southwestern’s only loss last season was to Saddleback, 31-16. . . . Riverside had the leading rusher in the conference last season in Clark Brown (1,079 yards) but he graduated. Mike Moore (659 yards) returns at tailback. The Tigers are a solid rushing team but a 5-5 record doesn’t win conferences. So Coach Barry Meier thinks it’s time to go to the pass and hopes sophomore quarterback Keith Widener can handle the responsibility. . . . Grossmont is looking to quarterback Erik Rainier to lead the Griffins toward the top. . . . Mike Merandi (Citrus) joins Workman as the two first-year coaches in the conference this season. Merandi replaces John Strycula who retired after 19 seasons.

Coach: Ken Swearingen, 11th season

Career Record: 93-13-1

1985 Record: 11-0

Returning Starters: offense 6, defense 3

Returning lettermen: 33

SADDLEBACK COLLEGE

Sept. 20--at El Camino

Sept. 27--x Grossmont

Oct. 4--x at Orange Coast

Oct. 11--x Riverside

Oct. 18--x at San Diego Mesa

Oct. 25--x Southwestern