Community College Notebook / Steve Kresal : Riverside Ended Saddleback Winning Streak Despite Conservative Call

Riverside College Coach Barry Meier used some odd strategy Saturday night, but his defense made it work in the Tigers’ 21-16 upset of Saddleback, which ended the Gauchos’ 49-game home winning streak.

Leading 21-16, the Tigers were driving for an insurance score late in the fourth quarter and had third and one at the Gaucho 16 with 2:35 left. Mike Moore, the Mission Conference’s leading rusher with 661 yards in 83 carries, lost a yard trying for the first down.

Rather than try for a 34-yard field goal, Meier decided to go for the first down on fourth down. But quarterback Keith Widener was stopped for no gain and the Gauchos took over.

“They (Saddleback) had blocked two punts in the first half, and I though they might block another kick,” Meier said after the game. “And I thought with our strong running game, we could get two yards. . . . Plus, I didn’t think they could go 83 yards in the little time that was left.”

Meier was right--but only by a yard.

Saddleback drove to the Riverside one. On fourth down, quarterback Pat Hegarty was stopped for a two-yard loss, also ending Saddleback’s 14-game winning streak over two seasons.

The last time the Gauchos lost was to Fullerton, 13-10, in the 1984 PONY Bowl.

The last time the Gauchos lost in conference was 1982, also to Riverside, 17-14. Saddleback lost to San Diego Mesa, 19-7, in 1984 but the Olympians had to forfeit the game for using an ineligible player.

For the first time since last November, Saddleback is not the top team in the state’s sports information directors’ poll. Glendale (5-0) moved up one spot to the top. Riverside (4-0) is second. Golden West (4-0) is third, Long Beach City (4-0) fourth and Saddleback fifth.

The system works. That’s the word at Orange Coast College after sophomore water polo player Eric Keller scored a school-record 12 goals in the Pirates’ 17-14 victory over Saddleback.

“We’re a real system-oriented team and we pretty much know when the shots are going to come, from where and from who,” said Don Watson, Orange Coast coach. “It was a combination of the system really working well and Eric being hot.”

Keller scored four goals in the first quarter, two in the second and third and four in the fourth. In the final quarter, Keller was the only one of the Pirates’ top three scorers still playing.

Freshman Mike Bunge, who has scored 31 goals this season and sophomore Karl Stewart, who has 36, had fouled out. That left Keller, the team leader with 71, the most experienced scorer still in the pool for the Pirates. Watson said he was amazed the 12 goals came against such a good team.

Saddleback is ranked fourth in the state and was 9-0-1 coming into the OCC game. The Pirates have won 13 straight and are ranked second in the state behind Long Beach. The Vikings (14-0) defeated the Pirates, 6-5, earlier this season in the Cuesta Tournament. Golden West is ranked third. OCC may get another chance at Long Beach City in the Cypress Tournament Oct. 25 when most of the top teams in the state play.

The Cypress College wrestling team finished fourth in the Cuesta Tournament Saturday. Sean Goodwin, who was seventh in the state final last season, won the 190-pound division for the Chargers. Coach Ray Haas, in his 20th year at Cypress, is 270-35-3.

Mike Mainville was second in the 142-pound division and Joey Gillis was fourth in the 167-pound division. The Chargers’ chances of winning suffered when heavyweight Bill Flores, who was fifth in the state final last season, suffered a mild shoulder injury and withdrew from the meet. He had pinned his first opponent and was in the process of pinning his second when injured.

In county football action: Golden West (1-0, 4-0) travels to Veterans Stadium Saturday night to play Long Beach City (1-0, 4-0), and Fullerton (0-1, 1-3) is at Mt. San Antonio (0-1, 2-1-1). In Mission Conference play, Saddleback (2-1, 3-1) is at San Diego Mesa (2-1, 2-1-1), Orange Coast (1-2, 1-3) is at Riverside (3-0, 4-0) and Rancho Santiago is at Southwestern (3-0, 3-1). All games start at 7:30 p.m.

Kevin Elster, who was a defensive replacement at shortstop for the New York Mets in the National League championship series, played at Golden West in 1983 and ’84. Elster, from Marina High School, was a first-team all South Coast Conference player when he hit .342 with 6 home runs and 36 RBIs as a sophomore. As a freshman at Golden West, he hit .338 with 3 home runs and 28 RBIs.