Taft Without Football Conference to Call Home

Taft College, the dominant community college football team in the state over the past 12 years, will not play in a football conference in the 1988 season, the commission on athletics of the California Assn. of Community Colleges announced Thursday.

David Cothrun, Taft College president, had asked the five-member conferencing committee Thursday to consider placing Taft in the 16-team Mission Conference, which includes the five Orange County colleges--Golden West, Fullerton, Saddleback, Rancho Santiago and Orange Coast.

But the committee refused to add the team, although it asked that Walt Rilliet, the state commissioner, work to help find 10 games for Taft next season. None are scheduled.

Taft is one of the smallest colleges in the state with an enrollment of only about 400 full-time students. It recruits heavily from out of state for its football team, which is 108-17-2 and has won two national championships in the last 12 seasons under Coach Art Baldock.

Taft was voted out of the Central Valley Conference by the other members last November after it went undefeated in the conference the past two seasons. Last December, the conferencing committee voted not to place Taft in a conference for the 1988 season.

“The committee directed me to do the best to help find Taft a schedule,” Rilliet said. “Our goal is to keep every team in the state involved, but we also need to keep the level of competition as equal as possible.”