Community College Notebook : Bakersfield Has Been Very Good to Fullerton, Sherbeck

Hal Sherbeck, Fullerton football coach, remembers the first time he walked into Bakersfield College’s Memorial Stadium.

It was 1961 and Sherbeck had just come from the University of Montana, where he was an assistant coach. He was in his first year as Fullerton coach, and his team opened the season at Bakersfield.

Fullerton lost, 50-0, in front of about 12,000.

“There weren’t that many people in all of Montana at the time,” Sherbeck joked this season. “I thought about getting on my horse and going back home.”

Fullerton and Sherbeck have returned several times to Bakersfield.

Fullerton has won the Potato Bowl in Bakersfield three times, defeating Bakersfield in 1964, Fresno in 1966 and Taft in 1983. The 1983 victory gave the Hornets their third national title.

Fullerton defeated Bakersfield in 1967 in the state semifinals en route to the school’s second national title.

And the Hornets defeated Bakersfield in a 1986 nonconference game for Sherbeck’s 200th coaching victory.

Now, Fullerton is near another milestone on the same field.

Fullerton (10-0) plays Bakersfield (10-0) in the Potato Bowl Saturday at 1:30, with the state and possible national championships on the line.

Fullerton is ranked No. 1 in the national J.C. Grid-Wire poll and first in the state. Bakersfield is ranked third in the nation and second in the state.

“It’s an honor to play in a game of this class and caliber,” Sherbeck said. “We have been very fortunate there in the past.”

Since the loss in 1961, Fullerton has 11 consecutive victories against Bakersfield.

“I don’t know that it means anything since players change so quickly,” Sherbeck said. “But I would rather be on this side of the streak.”

With Fullerton and Bakersfield drawing a lot of attention in the Potato Bowl, the PONY Bowl doubleheader, also Saturday, has taken a back seat.

El Camino (8-1-1) plays Saddleback (8-2) in the 7 p.m. game. In last season’s PONY Bowl, El Camino defeated Taft, 24-6, to complete an 11-0 season and win the national championship.

This season, El Camino lost to Fullerton and tied Golden West. Saddleback lost to Fullerton and Mt. San Antonio.

This is the ninth PONY Bowl, with Saddleback making its eighth appearance.

Rancho Santiago (6-3-1) plays Moorpark (9-1) at 1 p.m.

This the first bowl appearance for Rancho Santiago since the Orange Show Bowl in San Bernardino in 1965.

Larry Larsen of Saddleback was named the most valuable water polo player in the Orange Empire Conference by a vote of the conference coaches. Larsen, a sophomore, led Saddleback with 70 goals. He also had 35 assists.

Jack Dickman of Saddleback was named coach of the year as the Gauchos won the conference for the second consecutive season. Dickman is the interim coach this season for Flip Darr, who took the year off.

John Salvino, Dave Delgado and Steve Chaplin of Saddleback, Tony Litwak and Modesto Sanchez of Orange Coast, Dave Cameron and Todd Banhidy of Cypress and Greg Welch of Rancho Santiago were the other Orange County players named on the first team.

The coaches must have had a hard time making up their minds. They selected 14 players to the first team, 14 to the second team, and 19 as honorable mention.

Community College Notes

Tickets for the PONY Bowl are on sale at Rancho Santiago and Saddleback colleges and will be on sale the day of the games at Orange Coast College. Tickets for each game are $5. Tickets for the Potato Bowl are $6 and are on sale at Fullerton. . . . Former Saddleback wide receiver Kelly Ryan got in on a bit of history Saturday for Cal State Long Beach. He caught a 4-yard pass from Jeff Graham in the final seconds that was the career school-record 42nd touchdown pass for Graham.