Community College Football : Saddleback Defeats Grossmont, 28-7

Saddleback College (1-0, 2-0) kept its home-field winning streak intact as it rolled over Grossmont, 28-7, Saturday at Saddleback College Field. The Gaucho victory gave them 49 consecutive wins at home, dating back to 1976.

Gaucho running back Rodger Fickling picked up where he left off last week, scoring 2 touchdowns on runs of 3 and 1 yards. He scored two touchdowns last week in a 31-3 victory against El Camino.

Fickling scored on the first series of the game on a three-yard run. Quarterback Pat Hegarty, who played only three quarters for the Gauchos, was 21 of 37 for 312 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Hegarty completed a 30-yard pass to running back John Jungkeit midway through the first quarter for a touchdown. Later in the first half, he completed a pass to Brett Mersola on a 32-yard flag pattern for another touchdown.

Grossmont (0-1, 1-1), the newest Mission Conference member, never mounted much offense in the first half. They had minus-4 yards rushing and 80 yards passing in the first half.

Grossmont’s only scoring came with 3:34 to play when reserve quarterback Mike Jordan, playing in place of Erik Rainer, tossed a 13-yard scoring pass in the right corner of the end zone to Tony Kemp. Kemp had 9 catches for 118 yards.

Mersola tied a Saddleback school record for receptions set by Garry Rossman in 1969 in a game with 11 catches for 166 yards. He has 20 receptions in the last two games.

The Gauchos outgained the Griffins, 451 yards to 217. With the victory, the Gauchos have won 13 straight games, dating back to last season, the longest community college football winning streak in the state currently.

S--Fickling 3 run (Williams kick)

S--Fickling 1 run (Williams kick)

S--Jungkeit 30 pass from Hegarty (Williams)

S--Mersola 32 pass from Hegarty (Williams kick)

G--Kemp 13 pass from Jordan (Turek kick)

Attendance--1,600

In nonleague action:

Golden West 27, Ventura 10--The Rustlers (3-0) took a 21-0 halftime advantage in their victory at Ventura. Golden West wide receiver Lance Perry caught touchdown passes of 45 and 23 yards from quarterback Bill Marler. Rustler defenders sacked quarterback Russ Widerburg of Ventura (2-1) five times for a total loss of 35 yards.