Fullerton Is Defying Odds Once Again

When the Mission Conference expanded to 16 football teams two years ago, each coach predicted no team could go undefeated.

Furthermore, there was the matter of the Central Division, composed of Fullerton, Golden West, Orange Coast, Rancho Santiago, Riverside and Saddleback. Surely, even if a team got through its first four conference games without a loss, it would be impossible in the final five division games.

But in 1988, Fullerton went 10-0, including 5-0 in the Central Division. Last season, Riverside went 10-0, also 5-0 in the Central Division. El Camino, which won the Northern Division with a 4-0 record, also finished 10-0 last season.

This season, the coaches again said no team would do what Fullerton, El Camino and Riverside had done. And after four weeks, only Golden West and Fullerton remained undefeated. Then Saturday afternoon, Golden West was stopped by Palomar, 14-7. Hours later in Fullerton, the Hornets looked ready to fall from the undefeated ranks. El Camino held a 24-9 lead with less than six minutes to play.

But Fullerton rallied for 22 points and a 31-24 victory.

“Those are fun games to coach . . . when you win,” Fullerton Coach Hal Sherbeck said.

Despite past achievements, remaining undefeated would appear to be a difficult task for Fullerton (5-0, 4-0 in conference) once Central Division play starts Saturday.

Each of the five division teams has a winning record, and are a combined 23-7. Golden West, Riverside and Orange Coast are each 4-1, and Rancho Santiago and Saddleback are 3-2.

Fullerton begins with a 7 p.m. game at Saddleback, which has won three in a row and appears recovered from its 1-9 effort last season, the worst in the college’s history.

Golden West is the only team that begins divisional play coming off a loss. Golden West plays Riverside, the defending division champions, in a 1:30 p.m. game at Orange Coast.

Riverside’s 13-game winning streak ended with a 30-28 loss to Long Beach two weeks ago, but the Tigers rebounded to beat El Camino, 24-14, and Mt. San Antonio, 33-7.

Rancho Santiago travels to Orange Coast for a 7 p.m. contest Saturday that also will be the Pirates’ homecoming game.

Bakersfield stopped Moorpark, 37-25, Saturday to remain the top-ranked team in the weekly Southland Poll. The Renegades (5-0) are also the top-ranked team in the J.C. Grid-Wire national poll.

Fullerton (5-0) holds down the second spot in both polls. The rest of the Southland Poll: Cerritos (4-1) is third, Riverside (4-1) fourth, Moorpark (4-1) fifth, Mt. San Jacinto (5-0) sixth, Orange Coast (4-1) seventh, El Camino (4-2) eighth, Golden West (4-1) ninth and Santa Monica (4-1) 10th.

Golden West’s water polo team, the top-ranked team in the state and defending state champions, will be included in a top-flight field Saturday at the Cypress Water Polo Tournament.

Golden West is 15-2, 3-0 in the South Coast Conference. The Rustlers are led in scoring by Edward Van Linjin’s 40 goals. Torey Culbertson is second with 33 and Dave Johnson (29) third.

Golden West’s only two losses have come against second-ranked Cuesta. The Rustlers came back to defeat Cuesta, 9-7, in overtime in the Golden West Tournament two weeks ago to take over the top spot in the state.

First-round pairings in the Cypress tournament Saturday: Cuesta plays Saddleback at 8 a.m., Long Beach plays Citrus at 9 a.m., Orange Coast plays San Diego Mesa at 10 a.m., and Cypress plays Golden West at 11 a.m.

The double-elimination tournament continues all day with the championship game set for 6 p.m.

Community College Notes

Orange Coast’s Mari Benavides won the three-mile race to lead OCC to the women’s team championship Saturday in the Santa Barbara Invitational. Benavides, a sophomore, finished in 17 minutes 56 seconds. OCC also won the men’s championship. . . . Sam Lopez, a wrestler from Cypress, is 12-0 this season. Lopez won the 118-pound division of the Skyline Tournament over the weekend. He was 5-0 in the tournament and hasn’t been taken down in 11 matches. He finished 27-3 last season. . . . Estrus Crayton, the highly praised running back from Rancho Santiago, set the college’s career all-purpose yardage record in the 24-21 victory Saturday over Pasadena. He had 155 all-purpose yards to increase his total to 3,194. He passed Zeth Verdon (1983-84), who had 3,075. Crayton has 1,943 yards rushing and needs 74 to become the seventh rusher in Orange County history to gain more than 2,000 yards.