Postseason Hoopla Absent in JC Football : Moorpark, Glendale Teams Go Bowling for Scholarships

Junior college bowl games feature little of the pageantry and about 99.9% less profit than those at the 4-year level.

JC bowls serve simply as rewards for jobs well done by teams participating and one last chance at exposure for players pursuing roster positions at universities next fall.

With those thoughts in mind, Moorpark and Glendale are preparing for bowl-game appearances on Saturday, Dec. 3.

Moorpark (9-1 overall, 8-1 in the Western State Conference), winner of the Western State Conference Northern Division, will meet Rancho Santiago (6-3-1, 5-3-1 in the Mission Conference) in the first game of the PONY Bowl doubleheader at 1 p.m. at Orange Coast College. Saddleback and El Camino will meet in the second game at 7 p.m.

Glendale (9-1, 8-1), the WSC Northern Division runner-up, will meet Santa Monica (6-4, 6-3), the WSC Southern Division runner-up, in the inaugural WSC Bowl at Santa Monica College at 7:30 p.m.

“This is a real opportunity for sophomores to be seen by the 4-year college scouts,” said Moorpark Coach Jim Bittner, who has 17 sophomores on the Raiders’ roster. “Last year, I understand there were over 100 scouts at the PONY Bowl.”

Moorpark, which suffered its only loss to Ventura, will face a Rancho Santiago team that lost its last 3 games--to Fullerton, Saddleback and Orange Coast.

The Dons are led by quarterbacks Scott Wood and Eric Turner, who combined for 2,084 yards passing and 12 touchdowns. Running back Mike Miscione rushed for 1,139 yards. The defense, meanwhile, set a school record with 26 interceptions.

Glendale, which will conclude its regular season with a nonconference game against Taft on Saturday, has lost only to Moorpark.

“We’re really looking forward to playing Santa Monica,” Glendale Coach Jim Sartoris said. “They’re a team that’s really come on lately and it should be a great match-up.”

Santa Monica won its last 4 games and gave Bakersfield its best game of the season before losing, 31-17. Bakersfield, ranked third in the nation, meets second-ranked Fullerton in the Shriners’ Potato Bowl on Dec. 3 in Bakersfield.

The Corsairs, under first-year Coach Ralph Vidal improved throughout the season and secured their berth in the WSC Bowl with a 48-13 whipping of Valley and a 51-0 win over West Los Angeles last week.

Santa Monica is led by running back Deon Thomas, who led the WSC in rushing with a school-record 1,219 yards. Thomas, 5 feet, 10 inches, 170 pounds, has rushed for more than 100 yards in 9 consecutive games.

Quarterback Daryl Hobbs has thrown 8 touchdown passes in the past 2 games, giving him 10 for the season. He has passed for 1,242 yards.

Cornerback Naim Shah and linebacker Ken McKyer each have 4 interceptions for a Corsair defense that allows an average of 18 points a game.

“We didn’t play Glendale this year, but the same excellent staff has been there for many years, so I don’t expect them to do things much different than in the past,” Vidal said. “They’re always good.”