Community College Notebook : PONY Bowl Goes Outside County for the Teams It Needs

Tradition and the PONY Bowl officially parted company this year.

It had started as a nice little bowl in which at least one county team appeared the first five times it was played. There was always a local draw and an assurance there would be fans on at least one side of the stadium.

But this year, the game was looking to bolster its image, and that new attitude didn’t leave room for a county team. So Saturday, the state’s top-ranked team, Glendale (10-0), plays No. 5 Riverside (9-1) in LeBard Stadium at Costa Mesa at 1 p.m.

Last season, Saddleback defeated Fullerton, 32-13, in the PONY Bowl to win a share of the J.C. Grid-Wire national title with Snow, Utah. But this year, the Gauchos forfeited three victories because of an ineligible player and wound up 5-5.

Fullerton, which had played in two PONY Bowls, went though a rebuilding season and finished 6-4. Rancho Santiago was 6-4 and OCC 5-5.

Golden West had a 7-0 start, but lost two of its last three games. The Rustlers instead go to the Southern California Bowl to play College of the Desert in Palm Desert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

“Our goal is to make this the prestige bowl in the state,” said Bill Otta, assistant athletic director at Saddleback and a committee member. “I think we are very close and we could already have it.”

The game will be broadcast live on KSBR (88.5 FM) and delayed one hour on KDOC Channel 56.

Enough is enough. Mission Conference football coaches managed to squeeze 80 players onto the all-conference first teams.

Quarterback Keith Widener of Riverside was offensive player of the year and back Tom Kaumeyer of Palomar defensive player of the year.

County players on first team: tackles Keith Jacobsen, tight end Jeff Beilman and wide receiver Bret Mersola (Saddleback); tackle Steve Blyth (Rancho Santiago).

Second team: guard Alex Tosheff, quarterback Pat Hegarty and running back Roger Fickling (Saddleback); wide receiver Junior Tagaloa and running back Dave Swigart (OCC); wide receiver Chuck Zacour, quarterback John Cook and running back Glen Campbell (Rancho Santiago).

First-team defensive players: lineman Salofi Hanneman, defensive back Rod Corn and punter Tom Peet (Rancho Santiago); lineman Greg Conrad, linebacker Pat Quigley and defensive back Jeff Kelly (Saddleback); punt returner Bart Recktenwald (OCC).

Second team: lineman Jeff Shanks and defensive back Bill Craft (OCC); lineman Pat Kyle and linebacker Doug Rogers (Rancho Santiago); linebacker Brad Schmidt and Todd Pearlman (Saddleback).

Enough is enough, Part 2. The South Coast Conference showed a little more restraint, voting 66 players to the first two teams.

Compton quarterback Lance Salters was the offensive player of the year and Long Beach City defensive end Derek Santifer defensive player of the year.

County players on first-team offense: tight end Thane Ritchie, tackle Phil Nauahi, guard Russ Strange and running back Andy Greer (Fullerton); center Vince Donham, tackle Darren Grudt, guard Gilbert Medrano, running back Carl Satterfiled and quarterback Eric Lawton (Golden West).

Second team: wide receiver Lance Perry and running back Ted Papas (Golden West); quarterback Richard Williams and kicker Todd Reynolds (Fullerton).

County players on first team: lineman Nielson Acevedo and defensive back Jeff Mahlstede (Fullerton); lineman George Paddock, linebacker Mark Ziegenhagen and defensive back Rene Oliver (Golden West).

Second team: lineman Tom Matthews, linebacker Tim McKeon, end Scott Fairfield and punter Gus Madrigal (Fullerton); lineman John Donnelly and ends Trent Brummett and Adam Spies (Golden West).

Top Southern California wrestlers compete Friday when Cypress College plays host to the South Central Regionals and Golden West the Southern Regionals.

Sean Goodwin of Cypress (30-0) is favored in the 193-pound division. Other top Charger wrestlers include Dwayne De Nolf (22-9) in 134, Mike Mainville (19-9-2) in 142, Bill Weatherill (18-7) in 158, Joey Gillis (20-8) in 167 and Bill Flores (6-2) in heavyweight.

Rancho Santiago and Golden West join the state’s No. 1 team, Palomar, along with Rio Hondo, L.A. Pierce and El Camino, in the Southern Regionals at Huntington Beach.

Top Rancho Santiago wrestlers are heavyweight Tom Crawford, Arnold Alpert in the 134-pound division, Bill Furnish (137), Tony George (153) and Denny Furnish (158).

Golden West’s top wrestlers include Ed Ruiz (8-1) in 126, Paul Herrera (13-1) in 153 and Fran McGrath (15-5) in 167.

State finals will be Dec. 12-13 in Bakersfield.

The Miles Eaton men’s basketball tournament at Orange Coast College starts today with MiraCosta playing Mt. San Antonio at 2:30 p.m., followed by Mt. San Jacinto against Santa Barbara at 4:30, Orange Coast against East Los Angeles at 6:30 and Imperial Valley facing Long Beach City at 8:30. All games are in the OCC gym. The tournament continues Friday with the championship round scheduled Saturday night.

Miles Eaton was Orange Coast College’s first basketball coach from 1948 to 1955. Eaton, 74, is still a part-time economics teacher at the college.

Cypress plays host to a women’s tournament which also starts today. L.A. Valley vs. Mt. San Antonio, at 2 p.m., Riverside vs. MiraCosta at 4 p.m., Cypress vs. Palomar, at 6 p.m. and Orange Coast vs. Compton at 8 p.m. The tournament continues Friday and the championship will decided Saturday.