El Camino Eyes Another National Title

El Camino College has a chance to win its second community college national football title tonight in the second game of the Orange County Bowl doubleheader at Orange Coast College.

El Camino, 10-0 and tied for first with Navarro of Texas in the J.C. Grid-Wire national rankings, plays third-ranked Riverside (10-0) at 7 p.m.

Navarro (9-0) plays Ellsworth (9-0) of Iowa in the Mid-American Bowl in Tulsa at 11 a.m. today. Ellsworth is the fourth-ranked team. An impressive victory by El Camino or Navarro could be the determining factor in deciding the title.

El Camino upset Taft, 24-6, in 1987 to win its first national title. El Camino has won 17 consecutive games and has a 30-1-1 record in the past three seasons.

El Camino’s offense averaged 427.1 yards a game and is led by quarterback Frank Dolce, who has passed for 2,494 yards and 23 touchdowns and has been intercepted only five times this season.

Riverside figures to try to dominate on the ground. The Tigers’ Daryl McChristian ran for 1,518 yards and 10 touchdowns. Riverside averaged 389.7 yards a game in total offense.

“This is a great game for community college football,” El Camino Coach John Featherstone said. “Those kids (Riverside) really be believe they can beat us and we wouldn’t want it any other way.”