Palomar Upends Chabot to Make Bid for No. 1

Palomar College made its final argument in its case for the No. 1 ranking in the state and for top billing in the nation by defeating Chabot College of Hayward, 37-24, Friday night in the Elks Bowl in front of an estimated 4,000 at Stadium ’76.

The Comets (10-1) entered the game having won nine in a row and ranked second in the state behind Chabot (9-2).

Chabot, whose eight-game winning streak was snapped, was ranked second in the nation by USA Today and Palomar fourth.

Now even Chabot Coach Pete Davis is skeptical of those rankings.

“This was a hell of a game,” he said, “a damn dogfight. Palomar deserves to be state champion, possibly the national champion.”

The Comets made their impression with an unyielding passing attack.

Quarterback Andy Loveland threw for 465 yards and five touchdowns, completing 33 of 53 passes.

But he also threw two interceptions, and those set the early tempo because they were the first two throws Loveland attempted.

The first came after receiver Myron Wise slipped on the rain-soaked turf. Defensive back Eric Albert had no one to fend off in grabbing the errant pass.

Chabot’s offense wasted little time getting into the end zone and pushed ahead, 7-0.

But on the Comets’ next series, Loveland again was off-target as he let go of a pass that was deflected by Chabot lineman Akada Delaney, who then caught his own deflection.

Chabot capitalized again and with only 2:16 gone in the first quarter it held a 14-0 advantage.

After Jerry Garrett returned the ensuing kickoff 33 yards to his 43, Loveland still appeared shaky on Palomar’s third possession as his first two attempts fell incomplete.

But then he connected on the next three in a row, the first two for first downs and the last for a 24-yard touchdown hauled in by Jerry Garrett.

Garrett finished with 13 receptions for 204 yards and three touchdowns. He also had an 85-yard punt return for a touchdown that was wiped out by a penalty.

Choo Choo Walker also grabbed 13 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns.

“There was no panic when we were down 14-0,” Palomar Coach Tom Craft said. “At least not with our offense.”

The turning point came late with the score tied, 24-24. Chabot was gathering momentum during a drive from its 20 to the Palomar 25. But at that point Palomar defensive back Kenny Johnson came up with an interception at the five and returned it to the 25.

On came Palomar’s no-huddle offense, which had been taking a toll on the Chabot defense all night.

“Stamina was the deciding factor,” Craft said. “We just wore them down (with the no-huddle), especially in the fourth quarter.”

After Johnson’s interception, Loveland needed only two plays to unlock the score and put Palomar ahead to stay. The second play of the drive was a 58-yard scoring strike to Garrett.

Palomar’s defense allowed Chabot only 122 yards rushing. Chabot was averaging 334.7 yards.