COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOOTBALL ROUNDUP : Saddleback Gets Bowl Bid After Routing Golden West

Saddleback wasted little time easing the fears of some key onlookers by taking an early lead and rolling past Golden West, 51-14, in a Mission Conference Central Division football game Saturday in Mission Viejo.

Saddleback finished 10-0 and will risk its No. 1 national and state ranking against City College of San Francisco in the Simple Green Orange County Bowl Dec. 5 at Orange Coast College.

The victory was the 18th in a row for Saddleback, which won the division with a 5-0 mark for the second consecutive season.

The deal for the bowl game had been struck Wednesday, but it hinged on the outcome of the San Francisco and Saddleback games. San Francisco beat DeAnza Friday, so all eyes turned to Saddleback.

Doug Bennett, the chairman of the Simple Green Bowl, and Walt Rilliet, the Commissioner of Athletics, and San Francisco Coach George Rush were on hand waiting for a postgame ceremony to announce the bowl pairing.

Had Saddleback lost, all would have wasted a trip to Mission Viejo, because San Francisco (10-0) would not have come to the bowl unless both teams were 10-0.

Saddleback’s offense, which had sputtered during the last three games, returned to form against Golden West (4-6, 2-3).

Marcellus Chrishon capped the first drive with a 26-yard touchdown run three plays after the opening kickoff. Quarterback Tim Snowden had completed a 30-yard pass to Dan Zamora on first down and another for 15 yards to Dave Poltl on the next play.

Saddleback made it 14-0 less then two minutes later, when Snowden completed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Zamora. Saddleback led, 28-7, at the half and all the parties then just had to wait for the end to shake hands and smile for the camera.

Chrishon, who had been bothered by a sore shoulder last week, rushed for a game-high 186 yards and three touchdowns in 22 carries.

He finished this season with 1,748 yards and 24 touchdowns. Chrishon, from Mission Viejo High School, has rushed for 2,658 yards and scored 43 touchdowns in two seasons at Saddleback.

“That’s 10 victories they can’t take away,” Saddleback Coach Ken Swearingen said. “I think it’s great that we’re going to get a chance to play San Francisco. We told the bowl committee we wanted to play another 10-0 team if possible.”

In another Mission Conference game:

Orange Coast 25, Riverside 20--Frank Martin returned a kickoff 76 yards for a touchdown with two minutes remaining to lead Orange Coast (7-3, 4-1 in divisional play) over Riverside (1-8-1, 1-4). Eric Palomino had given Riverside a 20-19 lead with a 22-yard field goal just before Martin’s return. The victory keeps OCC in line for a bowl bid--most likely from the Western State Bowl. The decision should be announced today.