El Camino, Riverside Likely Foes for Bowl

Orange County will likely be the site of the state’s premier community college bowl game next month.

El Camino (9-0) and Riverside (9-0) appear to be headed for a showdown on Dec. 2 in the renamed Orange County Bowl at Orange Coast College. The bowl, formally known as the PONY Bowl, switched names because PONY dropped out as a sponsor because of financial problems after last season. No new sponsor has been found.

If El Camino and Riverside remain unbeaten, there is a possibility the game will be played for the mythical J.C. Grid-Wire national championship as well. El Camino, ranked second in the J.C. Grid-Wire poll, plays host to Cerritos (6-3-1) Saturday. Riverside, ranked fourth, plays host to Golden West Saturday.

“Nothing is official yet,” said bowl manager Keith Calkins. “But that is the most attractive matchup at this time. There still is a week to go, though, and a lot can change.”

Under the state community college athletic code, bids cannot be released until the conclusion of the regular season, which will be Saturday.

The past two seasons the bowl has been expanded to a doubleheader, and it appears it will be that way again this year.

“We’re probably going to run two ballgames,” Calkins said. “We’re excited at some of the possible matchups we could have, but we have to wait (until after the season) to make that announcement.”

Bowls and polls: El Camino (first) and Riverside (second) remain the top two teams in the Southland football poll.

Bakersfield (7-0-2) is third, Rancho Santiago (8-1) fourth, Moorpark (8-1) fifth, L.A. Southwest (7-1-1) sixth, Cerritos (6-3-1) seventh, College of the Desert (7-2) eighth, Pasadena (6-3) ninth and Ventura (7-2) 10th.

Rancho Santiago and Moorpark are the likely candidates for the other half of the Orange County Bowl if both are victorious Saturday. Rancho Santiago closes against Orange Coast College and Moorpark plays L.A. Southwest.

The Western State Conference plays host to a bowl for its divisional winners, but Bakersfield, which is ahead in the South, appears likely to stay home and play Taft in the Potato Bowl. Moorpark leads in the North. If both leave, then the second-place teams could get the bids.

The National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Bowl, held in San Diego, gives an automatic berth to the winner of the South Division of the Mission Conference. Palomar (5-4) needs to defeat Southwestern on Saturday to win the title outright.

The winner of the Foothill Conference will play host in the Southern California Bowl. Desert plays host to Citrus (6-3) on Saturday and the winner takes the conference title outright.

Water Polo: Orange Coast and Golden West advance to the eight-team state tournament this weekend at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach.

Golden West, the No. 3-seeded team from the South, plays DeAnza, the No. 3 team from the North, Friday at 10:15 a.m. Orange Coast, the fourth-seeded team from the South, plays Modesto, the North’s top-seeded team, at 9 a.m.

Cuesta, the No. 1 team from the South, plays the North’s fourth-seeded team, Foothill, at 11:30 a.m. The No. 3-seeded South team, Long Beach, takes on the North’s No. 2-seeded team, Merced, at 12:45 p.m.

The semifinals will be played at 6 and 7:15 p.m. on Friday. The championship match will be played at 3 p.m. Saturday.

As Usual: The Golden West women’s volleyball team clinched its third consecutive conference title Thursday with a 15-12, 15-5, 15-6 sweep of Saddleback. Golden West (15-4 overall, 11-0 in conference) will play Fullerton Friday in the final conference match of the season.

It’s the sixth conference title in seven years for defending state champion Golden West and Coach Albert Gasparian.

Golden West is led by three outside hitters. Maureen Flannigan, a sophomore from Mater Dei High School, was an all-conference selectionfor Golden West last season. Joli Eberhart, a freshman from Mater Dei, and Jeni Murrell of University High School in San Diego, have also had impressive seasons.

Golden West enters the state playoffs Nov. 22, but Gasparian expects his team to receive a first-round bye. The Rustlers will need to win only one match to advance to the state tournament Dec. 2-3 at Citrus.

“(We’re) going to (need) to get on a hot streak to win another state title,” Gasparian said. “I still don’t think we’ve played one match up to our potential this season.”

Community College Notes

Eric LeGarreta (118 pounds) of Golden West and Greg Monteith (167 pounds) of Cypress are the only Orange County members of the South team in the North/South state wrestling tournament, which will be held Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Cuesta College. Mike Flook of Cypress was chosen as co-coach for the South.