COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOOTBALL ROUNDUP : Fullerton Finally Gets Its 400th Victory

Although the offense managed only three Chris Prater field goals, Fullerton still posted the school’s 400th football victory by defeating Riverside, 16-7, in a Mission Conference game Saturday at Riverside.

Prater kicked field goals of 39, 25 and 22 yards, and defensive back Jason Long returned a fumble 60 yards for a touchdown for Fullerton (1-5, 1-1 in conference), which broke a five-game losing streak, longest in school history.

Riverside (1-4-1, 1-1) took a 7-0 lead when Vince Spirlin caught a 57-yard touchdown pass from Scott Pearne with 10 minutes 54 seconds left in the first quarter.

Prater kicked his first field goal with 13:35 remaining in the second quarter before the Hornet defense made the big play.

After Riverside’s Mike Holm caught a 16-yard pass from Pearne, Long stripped the ball from Holm at the Fullerton 40 and raced to the touchdown.

Mike Carter gained 100 yards in 24 carries for Fullerton, and quarterback Josh Nelson completed 12 of 21 passes for 136 yards.

In other Mission Conference games:

Golden West 15, Grossmont 10--Freshman Vance Senteno rushed for a career-high 154 yards and two touchdowns in 26 carries at Grossmont.

Senteno, who was Golden West’s third-string tailback two weeks ago, replaced injured running backs Derrick Ragsdale and Brian Williams.

Special teams set up Senteno’s first touchdown. Golden West’s John Sears deflected Chad DeGrenier’s punt, and Adrian Brown returned the short kick 50 yards to the Grossmont one.

Senteno scored on the next play to give Golden West (2-4, 2-3) a 9-3 lead with 3:04 remaining in the third quarter.

Late in the fourth quarter, linebacker Jake Guild recovered a fumble at the Grossmont eight, and two plays later, Senteno scored on a three-yard run with 3:28 remaining.

DeGrenier, who also played quarterback for Grossmont (0-5-1, 0-5), scored on a two-yard run with 1:24 left to make the score 15-10, but Golden West recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.

Palomar 45, Rancho Santiago 26--Quarterback Tom Luginbill passed for 265 yards and three touchdowns for Palomar.

Two Palomar interception returns made the difference. With 6:42 left in the first quarter, Martin Arispe took one 24 yards to give Palomar (5-1, 4-1) a 14-0 lead. Palomar’s Greg Frazier had the second, running 25 yards with 9:29 in the third quarter to make the score 30-19.

Rancho Santiago (1-5, 0-5) suffered its fifth consecutive loss despite outgaining the Comets, 449-400. Palomar had been averaging 536 yards.

Rancho Santiago’s Juan Garcia rushed for 177 yards and a touchdown in 28 carries.