Glendale Tries for Unbeaten Season, Plays Riverside in PONY Bowl Today

Glendale College’s bid for an undefeated season and, possibly, a national championship are on the line today against Riverside in the sixth annual PONY Bowl.

The game starts at 1 p.m. in Orange Coast College’s LeBard Stadium.

Glendale (10-0) is ranked first in the state and second in the nation. The Vaqueros won the Western State Conference championship.

Northeastern Oklahoma (10-0), the country’s top-ranked team, plays Montgomery, Md., in the Mid-America Bowl today.

Saddleback, which is not in the game for the first time since the PONY Bowl’s inception, defeated Fullerton, 32-13, in last year’s game to share the national championship with Snow, Utah.

Glendale is led by J.C. Gridwire All-American sophomore quarterback Rob Huffman, who completed 104 of 186 passes for 1,405 yards, 21 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Riverside (9-1), which won the Mission Conference championship, has quarterback Keith Widener, who was the conference’s offensive player of the year. He completed 71 of 137 passes for 1,453 yards, 17 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions.

Last season, Widener led the conference with 17 interceptions.

The Tigers are ranked fifth in the state and eighth in the nation.

Glendale’s defense, led by honorable mention All-American lineman John Bavero, yielded only 85 points all season and shut out four consecutive opponents.

The game is being broadcast live by KSBR (88.5 FM) and delayed one hour by KDOC, channel 56.