Moorpark Clinches Division Title, 17-0

One point.

That’s all that separates Moorpark College from an undefeated football season, but it is also more than the Moorpark defense allowed five of its opponents this year and more than L. A. Southwest could score in a 17-0 loss to the Raiders on Saturday at Southwest.

A 28-27 loss to Bakersfield is the only blemish for Moorpark, but the Raiders nonetheless tied Bakersfield for the Western State Conference title and will play in the Orange County Bowl, formerly the PONY Bowl.

After finishing the regular season 9-1 last year, Moorpark lost to Rancho Santiago in the PONY Bowl. The Orange County Bowl may be a rematch if, as expected, Rancho Santiago also is invited.

Needing a victory to earn the Northern Division title and the bowl berth, Moorpark (9-1, 8-1 in conference play, 5-0 in the Northern Division), made its case for both with an exclamation point.

“They were just teeing off on us,” Southwest Coach Henry Washington said after his team was limited to six yards rushing and 58 passing.

Moorpark scored all the points it needed on an 80-yard touchdown drive after the opening kickoff that chewed up more than eight minutes.

Running back Freddie Bradley converted all four third-down plays on the 16-play march, and on the fourth he swept 10 yards around left end untouched for the touchdown.

“I thought it was going to be that way all day,” Moorpark Coach Jim Bittner said. “I thought, ‘Hey, we’ll wear these guys down.’ ”

Bradley did his best to do so, punishing Southwest (7-2-1, 6-2-1, 3-2) with 151 yards in 33 carries.

However, it wasn’t until late in the fourth quarter, when Bradley ran 17 yards to set up a three-yard touchdown run by John Brown, that Moorpark put the game out of reach, 17-0. “(Southwest) is a lot faster than I thought they were,’ said Bittner, whose team nursed a 7-0 lead until midway through the fourth quarter.

Moorpark twice fumbled deep in Southwest territory, and kicker Sean Cheevers missed a 30-yard field-goal attempt before connecting on one of 31 yards with 8:53 remaining.

The defense kept Moorpark in command, though, with a performance that may make the Raiders the state’s top defensive team for the second year in a row.

The Raiders continually harried quarterback Craig Manigo and virtually nullified standout receiver Ansel Littlejohn.

‘I really didn’t have a chance to go deep on them,’ said Littlejohn, who entered the game with 11 touchdown receptions but was held to 26 yards on three catches and never handled a kickoff.

“The key is pass rush,” Bittner said. “We had an extremely good rush. You have to give credit to the defensive line.”

While the linemen tied up the middle, outside linebacker Tom Briggs kept Manigo on the run with two and a half sacks.

“He’s a monster,” Washington said. “We couldn’t generate any offense and, of course, Moorpark had a lot to do with it.”