Saddleback Takes Over as Leader of Pack

There was no talk about bowl games after Saddleback defeated Riverside in a Mission Conference Central Division football game Saturday.

But the 28-14 victory has moved the Gauchos into the position of front-runners among Orange County teams.

Saddleback, which only two years ago suffered through a 1-9 season and was 6-4 last year, is 7-1, 3-0 in the Central Division, with two games left.

Riverside and Fullerton are each 2-1 in division play, but their losses are to Saddleback.

Directly ahead for Saddleback is a 7 p.m. game against Golden West (5-3, 1-2) Saturday at Orange Coast College. On Nov. 23, the Gauchos play host to Rancho Santiago (2-6, 1-2) to conclude the regular season.

Victories in both those games would assure Saddleback a bid to the Simple Green Orange County Bowl Dec. 7 at Orange Coast.

“We are just a game closer to our goal of winning our division,” Saddleback Coach Ken Swearingen said. “That’s what we want to accomplish. Our (division) is so tough we don’t want to look head. We can’t.”

Men’s Soccer: The OCC men’s team is in prime position to win its fourth consecutive Orange Empire Conference title.

The Pirates (10-4-7, 7-1-3) hold a one-point lead over second-place Irvine Valley and conclude the regular season today with a 3 p.m. game at Cypress. The Chargers have yet to win in conference.

An OCC victory would put the Pirates three points ahead of Irvine Valley (14-3-2, 8-3), which has a bye today. Irvine Valley finishes its regular season Friday with a game at Rancho Santiago. OCC will have its bye Friday.

Orange Coast and Irvine Valley tied for the conference championship last season, but each lost in the second round of the playoffs.

Water Polo: The Southern California regional tournament yielded no surprises as the top four teams advanced to this weekend’s state tournament at West Valley College in Cupertino.

Pairings in Friday’s quarterfinals: Golden West (30-1) vs. Modesto (20-10-1) at 8 a.m.; College of the Sequoias vs. Orange Coast (27-7) at 9:15 a.m.; West Valley (21-3-1) vs. Grossmont (25-10) at 10:30 a.m., and Long Beach City (29-5) vs. Merced at 11:45 a.m.

Golden West, the two-time defending state champion and top-ranked team, is the tournament favorite.

The semifinals and final are scheduled for Saturday.

Where’s the Ball? The start of the second quarter of the Golden West-Rancho Santiago football game Saturday was delayed about 10 minutes because officials couldn’t spot the ball.

After the gun sounded ending the first quarter with Golden West deep in Rancho Santiago territory, the chain crew headed toward the other end of the field. But once they arrived, no one could remember where the ball was supposed to be. The officials talked and pointed a lot and eventually settled on second and 10 at the Rancho Santiago 16.

Wrong.

Finally, word from the press box came down that it should be second and seven at the 14. Play began, and Golden West’s Brian Williams scored on a 14-yard run. The Rustlers went on to a 24-21 victory.

Nearing a Record: Rancho Santiago sophomore quarterback Rich Fanti is closing in on the school’s all-time passing yardage mark.

Fanti has thrown for 3,039 yards in his career, and needs only 181 in his final two starts to pass Dave Money (3,219 yards in 1983-84).

Fanti holds the career touchdown passing record (27).

Community College Notes

Volleyball player Reiko Matsumoto of Orange Coast has set the college’s record for kills. She had 15 in a three-game sweep of Cypress last Tuesday to pass Jody Fee (371 in 1987-88). Matsumoto, a sophomore from Fountain Valley High School, has 378 with two regular-season matches left. She had 254 kills last season, and 124 this season. . . . The Irvine Valley women’s cross-country team was the only Orange County team to qualify for Saturday’s state meet at Sierra College. In Saturday’s Southern California regionals, Irvine Valley finished with 69 points, runner-up to Mt. San Antonio (61). Irvine Valley’s Sue Davis, who was fifth, was the top local finisher. . . . There was no Southland Football poll today because Monday was Veterans Day, a school holiday.