Community Colleges : Reserve Quarterback Rallies Southwestern to Bowl Victory

Don Quinn stood on the sidelines until there were fewer than 19 minutes remaining in his football career. Then came the moment every reserve quarterback half hopes for and half dreads.

Southwestern College starter Anthony Rivera was on the run for four consecutive plays until he finally twisted his right knee while losing 7 yards late in the third quarter and left for good. Quinn, who spent a year at San Diego City College and a couple of years out of school before landing at Southwestern, started what would be his longest quarterbacking role since he was a senior at Southwest High 4 years ago.

Quinn looked as if he had never left the pocket. He completed 8 of 11 passes for 136 yards and a touchdown to lead Southwestern to a 20-16 victory over Antelope Valley in the fourth National Football Foundation & Hall of Fame Bowl at Balboa Stadium Saturday afternoon.

“I’ve waited so long,” Quinn said. “I had to be patient with myself. It was a great feeling to finally get in there.”

With the scored tied, 10-10, both offenses had stagnated. But when Rivera was injured, Quinn entered and immediately threw passes of 20 and 19 yards to Richard Sanchez. Quinn moved Southwestern to the 22 before the Apaches had to settle for a 38-yard field goal by Paul Tavares with 1:06 left in the third quarter.

On Southwestern’s next drive, Quinn drove the offense 76 yards, the last 10 on a pass to Sanchez in the left corner of the end zone to make it 20-10. Quinn had set up the touchdown with a 33-yard pass on third and 10 to Gary Charleton.

“This is what a sophomore quarterback is supposed to do,” Southwestern Coach Bob Mears said. “But it was especially nice because he had very little practice time. The last five games we had to win to get to the bowl game, so we had to stick with our No. 1 quarterback.”

Southwestern, ranked No. 24 among state community colleges, was just 6-4 entering the game. No. 16 Antelope Valley was 8-1-1.

Rivera, who completed 10 of 19 passes for 158 yards, put Southwestern on the scoreboard first, running 27 yards on a broken play on the Apaches’ first drive.

But Antelope Valley took a quick lead on a sequence that began when Rivera dropped a low snap on an attempted punt and the ball was downed in the end zone for a safety. Antelope Valley took the ensuing kick and drove 48 yards in 6 plays, with Gerald Mitchell scoring from the 5 on a pitchout. Mike Dalley then threw to Kelly King on a fake kick for the 2-point conversion, and Antelope Valley led, 10-7.

Southwestern tied the score on a 28-yard field goal by Tavares with 13:22 remaining in the half.

After falling behind, 20-10, Antelope Valley tried to rally, scoring on a 2-yard run by King with 5:52 remaining; the conversion pass attempt failed. Antelope Valley took over again with 2:23 left, but its drive stalled on the Southwestern 40 after a sack by Mike Moore and an incomplete pass.