OCC Has Advantage in Race for Bowl Bid

Orange Coast College moved to the forefront of the Mission Conference and Orange County Bowl races Saturday with a 13-12 victory over Riverside.

But Pirate Coach Bill Workman would rather focus his attention on Saturday’s game with Golden West than on any bowl possibilities.

“You only want to think about this game,” Workman said. “But you can’t lie to the kids. They know what’s out there. Newspapers write about it all the time.”

OCC (7-2 overall) has a 3-1 record in the Central Division for a one-game lead over Fullerton (7-2, 2-2), Rancho Santiago (5-4, 2-2), Riverside (6-3, 2-2) and Saddleback (5-4, 2-2). Golden West (5-4, 1-3) is out of the race.

If OCC wins, the Pirates would have the advantage for a berth in the Dec. 1 Orange County Bowl, which is played at OCC.

Golden West has lost four of its last five and three in a row, but the Rustlers and OCC are district rivals and Golden West Coach Ray Shackleford holds a 3-1 advantage over Workman, who is in his fifth season.

“It’s like when USC and UCLA play,” Workman said. “You throw everything in the past (season) out. Plus, Golden West has a very talented defense and would love to spoil it for us.”

Golden West’s defense is allowing a conference-low 251 yards per game, and OCC could be without starting quarterback Greg Angelovic. He started the first eight games but hurt his right (throwing) shoulder Nov. 3 in the last minute of a victory over Fullerton. He wasn’t able to throw without pain last week and sat out Saturday as OCC used freshman Donnie Smith in the victory over Riverside.

Angelovic is currently doubtful for this Saturday.

If OCC wins, the Pirates would most likely be in line to play El Camino (8-2) in the Orange County Bowl. El Camino won the Northern Division of the conference with a 4-0 mark and has a bye in the final week.

The last three years, the Orange County Bowl has consisted of two games, but that was because there was more than one clear matchup. But at this point, the only clear matchup is OCC and El Camino, provided the Pirates win Saturday.

“I think we’re probably going to have just one game,” said bowl game manager Keith Calkins. “That is the way we are leaning anyway. But we still have to wait and see what happens in the final week. We’ll decide then.”

There will be plenty of basketball this week, with Cypress, Fullerton and Rancho Santiago playing host to men’s tournaments and Golden West holding a women’s tournament.

The Fullerton Tournament starts Wednesday with Long Beach playing Grossmont at 6 p.m. and Fullerton taking on San Bernardino Valley at 8 p.m. Saddleback plays South Mountain (Arizona) at 6 p.m. Thursday and East Los Angeles battles Cerritos at 8 p.m. in the other first-round matchup.

The Cypress tournament begins Thursday with four games. Edwards Air Force Base goes against Ventura at 2 p.m., Central Arizona takes on Santa Monica at 4 p.m., Cypress plays Pima (Arizona) at 6 p.m. and Johnson County (Kansas) opposes Santa Rosa at 8 p.m.

Rancho Santiago’s Tip-Off Tournament opens Friday with Chaffey and Glendale at 6 p.m. and Southwestern and Rancho Santiago, the defending state champion, at 8 p.m.

The championship game of the Rancho Santiago Tournament is at 5 p.m. Saturday. Cypress’ and Fullerton’s championship games are Saturday at 8 p.m.

Golden West, the women’s defending state champion, plays Victor Valley at 8 p.m. Thursday in the first round of its tournament.

Rancho Santiago plays College of the Canyons at 2 p.m., Bakersfield plays Grossmont at 4 p.m. and Mt. San Antonio plays Cuesta at 6 p.m. in Thursday’s other first-round games. The championship game is Saturday at 8 p.m.

The Southern California Regional men’s soccer playoffs start Saturday, with Orange Coast, the defending state champion, at Cuyamaca. Irvine Valley plays host to Bakersfield, Southwestern is at East Los Angeles and El Camino is at Moorpark in the other first-round games.