Putting Their Perfect Records on the Line : Community colleges: No. 2 El Camino and No. 7 Rancho Santiago meet in key conference game.

Saturday’s Mission Conference matchup between El Camino College and Rancho Santiago will feature two undefeated teams ranked among the state’s top 10 by the JC Athletic Bureau. El Camino (3-0) is No. 2 and Rancho Santiago (2-0) is No. 7.

Both teams have a balanced offense and solid defense. The Dons opened with a 32-6 victory over San Diego Mesa and defeated Mt. San Antonio College, 37-16, in the conference opener last week. Rancho Santiago’s running attack is led by Estrus Crayton, an All-American last year, who has rushed for six touchdowns and gained 238 yards on 52 carries. Crayton is also Rancho’s top receiver. He has caught eight passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns.

“He’s the second coming of O. J. Simpson,” said El Camino Coach John Featherstone, an assistant at Rancho Santiago from 1982 to 1984.

Dons freshman quarterback Richard Fanti has completed 68% of his passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns. El Camino’s Rod Harvey has completed 65% of his passes for 620 yards and six touchdowns. Although El Camino utilizes an array of receivers and running backs, Harvey’s favorite target is Bryan Reeves. The freshman from Carson High has eight receptions for 277 yards and three touchdowns.

Anthony Daigle is the Warriors’ top rusher with an average of 122.5 yards a game, second in the league to Riverside’s John Peoples, who averages 169.5. The freshman running back, who transferred from Arizona State along with Reeves, leads El Camino with seven touchdowns.

Featherstone said it will take a great defensive effort and consistency on offense to beat Rancho Santiago.

“This week is our biggest challenge,” he said. “Taft was bigger and more physical, but Rancho is a better team. They have an explosive offense. They run 15 to 20 different formations and they spread you out on the field.

“We have to eliminate the penalties and we have to be very aggressive on defense to beat this team.”

Game time is 7 p.m. at El Camino’s Murdock Stadium.

Last season Harbor won a total of three football games. On Saturday, in a Western State Conference matchup at L.A. Pierce, the Seahawks, ranked 13th, have a great opportunity to match that total.

Harbor is on a roll after upsetting 12th-ranked L.A. Southwest, 21-7, in last week’s WSC opener. L.A. Pierce is 0-2 after last week’s conference loss to Santa Barbara. Pierce, 4-6 last season, lost its opener to East L.A.

Seahawk Coach Don Weems said the Brahmas’ poor record is not indicative of the team’s talent.

“I told my players that Pierce is the most dangerous type of football team,” said Weems, the second-year coach. “I look for a big effort out of that Pierce team and it will take a very solid effort on our part to beat them. They play good fundamental football.”

L.A. Southwest (1-1) dropped out of the state’s top 20 after falling to Harbor last week. A home-field advantage should help it on Saturday against Glendale in a 1 p.m. WSC matchup.

“We expect to play better this week,” Southwest Coach Henry Washington said. “We had a good week of practice. We also shifted people around on offense and we made some defensive changes.”

Glendale is 0-2, with losses to top-ranked Bakersfield and 11th-ranked Pasadena. The Gauchos took a beating at Bakersfield, 31-3, last week.

“They’re very big and strong,” Washington said. “They have a very well-coached football team. Their losses are against two of the state’s top teams so we’re looking for a great ball game.”