TONIGHT’S COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Orange Coast Playing With a Bowl Invitation at Stake

The invitations for the Orange County Simple Green Bowl will be sent out tonight, but the teams missing from the guest list are of more interest than the ones likely to be invited.

Palomar (9-0) and Long Beach (9-1), the teams with the best records in the Mission Conference, already have been released from playing in the Dec. 4 doubleheader at Orange Coast College.

Palomar, assuming it beats Southwestern (3-6) Saturday, is planning to travel to San Francisco to play City College of San Francisco (9-0) for a possible J.C. Grid-Wire national championship. The Rams are the second-ranked team in the nation.

Long Beach, ranked 14th, has accepted a bid to play Fresno (7-2) in the Producers Dairy Bowl in Fresno. Fresno is ranked 22nd in the nation.

This leaves the committee for Orange County Bowl considering Orange Coast (6-3), Riverside (5-4), Mt. San Antonio (7-2), Cerritos (6-2-1) and Citrus (7-2), as long as they all win tonight.

Mt. San Antonio also has a chance to play San Bernardino Valley (8-1) in the Southern California Bowl at Chaffey College.

If Mt. San Antonio back out on the Orange County Bowl, the most likely matchups would be Riverside against Cerritos in the day game and Citrus against Orange Coast at night.

“Hopefully it will all work out,” said Doug Bennett, the game manager. “But we’ll just have to wait and see.”

In tonight’s 7:30 p.m. Mission Conference Central Division games:

Golden West (4-5, 2-2) at Orange Coast (6-3, 3-1)--OCC was in the same position two years ago, needing a victory over district-rival Golden West in the final game to get a bowl bid. That year, the Rustlers upset the Pirates, 24-7. Golden West leads the series, 14-11. There have been two ties.

Orange Coast has the top-ranked defense in the conference, allowing 279 yards a game. Golden West (360 yards a game) is ninth in total defense.

The game will feature two impressive running backs. Orange Coast’s Jeff Clayton has gained 1,089 yards and scored 12 touchdowns. Golden West’s Vance Senteno has rushed for 733 yards and scored 10 touchdowns.

Rancho Santiago (3-5-1, 1-3) at Saddleback (5-4, 2-2)--Saddleback has dominated this series, 11-1. Saddleback’s defense is ranked second in the conference, allowing 300 yards a game. Rancho Santiago’s Gabe Garcia has 15 touchdowns passes, best among the Orange County quarterbacks.

Riverside (5-4, 4-0) vs. Fullerton (3-6, 0-4), CS Fullerton--Riverside has won five consecutive games and already has a share of the division title. This will be the final game together for Fullerton’s talented combination of wide receivers Vince Wilson and Ryan Roskelly and quarterback Josh Nelson.

Nelson is 158 of 265 for 2,037 yards, with 14 touchdowns. Wilson caught, threw and ran for a touchdown last Saturday in a 41-35 loss to Rancho Santiago. He has 61 receptions for 1,105 yards and nine touchdowns. Roskelly has 52 receptions for 810 yards and three scores.