SIMPLE GREEN ORANGE COUNTY BOWL : Chrishon Is on the Mark for Saddleback

Darrell Thompson of Cerritos may have had the best running back credentials entering the Simple Green Orange County Bowl, but it was Saddleback’s Marcellus Chrishon who ran away with the game Saturday.

Chrishon gained an Orange County Bowl-record 207 yards and scored four touchdowns as Saddleback defeated Cerritos, 42-18, in front of about 3,000 at Orange Coast College.

It was the eighth consecutive victory for Saddleback (10-1), ranked sixth in the nation by the J.C. Grid-Wire, and the first loss in eight games for No. 12 Cerritos (8-3).

Thompson, a 6-foot-2, 222-pound back who led the Mission Conference in rushing with 1,527 yards, gained 134 yards in 20 carries, but was overshadowed by Chrishon (5-10, 170).

Chrishon had 186 yards and three touchdowns by halftime to help Saddleback to a 28-6 lead.

“I lost a lot of sleep over this game during the past week,” Chrishon said. “I felt like I had better do well to make up for the loss of sleep--make sure it wasn’t for nothing.”

Chrishon scored touchdowns of five, 16, one and five yards--the last giving the Gauchos a 35-12 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Chrishon, a freshman who gained more than 1,000 yards for Mission Viejo High last season, carried the ball 30 times in breaking the Orange County Bowl record of 193 yards set in 1989 by Rancho Santiago’s Estrus Crayton in a victory over Moorpark.

Saddleback quarterback Tim Snowden also had a strong performance, completing 13 of 20 passes for 183 yards. Snowden didn’t have any passes intercepted and completed touchdown passes to Dan Zamora and Dave Poltl.