Many Milestones Reached in County Bowl

Believe it or not, there’s still more to say about Saddleback’s national football championship.

The Gauchos beat City College of San Francisco, 24-12, Saturday to finish a season-long run as the nation’s top-ranked team in the J.C. Grid-Wire.

It was the 19th consecutive victory for the program led by sophomore quarterback Tim Snowden, who was 21-1 as a two-year starter. Saddleback last lost in the third game of the 1991 season to Southwestern, 43-32.

Marcellus Chrishon, a sophomore All-American running back, finished the season with 1,864 yards in 382 carries. He also scored 27 touchdowns.

Chrishon, who also was a teammate of Snowden at Mission Viejo High, rushed for 2,774 yards and scored 46 touchdowns in two seasons at Saddleback.

If one had to pick the most underrated player on the Saddleback team it might be Shaun Coleman, a sophomore fullback from Dana Hills High.

Coleman was bothered by a sore shoulder all season but stayed in the lineup.

When San Francisco shut down Chrishon early on, it was Coleman who broke runs of nine and 15 yards up the middle to soften the Rams’ defense.

Coleman finished with 48 yards rushing and also caught two passes for 26 yards against San Francisco.

Many missed it, but Saddleback lost defensive line starters Brent Longnecker and Vernon Mackenzie in the first half to leg injuries. But Ben Rooker and Dan West filled in nicely.

The victory was also a milestone for Coach Ken Swearingen as he joined Hal Sherbeck as the winningest coaches in the history of community college football.

Swearingen has a mark of 241-68-6 in 31 years, including a record of 142-37-1 in 17 seasons at Saddleback. He spent his first 14 seasons at El Camino.

Sherbeck retired last spring with a record of 241-71-8 in 31 years at Fullerton. He moved to Montana last summer.

“I don’t care that much about it and I don’t think the guy in Montana does either,” Swearingen said.

No kidding: Saddleback (11-0) finished as the top team in the final Southland Poll.

Palomar (10-1) was second, San Bernardino Valley (10-0-1) third, Bakersfield (9-1-1) fourth, Pasadena (9-2) fifth, Moorpark (9-1-1) sixth, El Camino (8-3) seventh, Mt. San Antonio (8-3) eighth, Antelope Valley (8-2-1) ninth and Los Angeles Harbor (8-3) 10th.

Basketball: Riverside will be the place to be to see the majority of the Orange Empire Conference men’s basketball teams this week. Five of the conference’s eight teams will participate in the Riverside College Holiday tournament, which starts at 1 p.m. today when Irvine Valley plays San Bernardino Valley.

Fullerton takes on Southwestern at 3 p.m. and Riverside plays College of the Desert at 7 p.m.

On Wednesday, Cypress goes up against Mt. San Antonio at 1 p.m., and Golden West takes on Mt. San Jacinto at 7 p.m. The quarterfinals start Thursday and the title game is on Saturday.

Community College Notes

The Irvine Valley men’s basketball team has shown a willingness to shoot three-pointers no matter what. The Lasers made one of their first 20 against Golden West last week. Irvine Valley kept at it though, and ended up making seven of 39 and winning, 95-81. . . . The Cypress women’s basketball team won two games in its tournament last week and is 7-2 this season. The Chargers have already surpassed the victory total of last season’s team that finished 6-21. . . . The Simple Green Orange County Bowl has also been known as the PONY Bowl and the Orange County Bowl, but one thing has remained the same--Saddleback playing in the game. The Gauchos have participated in nine of 12 years and are 5-4.