SMALL COLLEGES / LONNIE WHITE : Long Beach City’s Proudest Moment

Over the last 65 years, Long Beach City College has produced many outstanding football teams and players, but last Saturday night, the Vikings might have had their proudest moment.

Before an estimated crowd of 9,000 at Cerritos College, Long Beach defeated Valley College, 59-49, in the Strawberry Bowl and won this season’s junior college national championship with an 11-0 record.

After taking over a team that finished 1-9 in 1991, Coach Larry Reisbig turned the Vikings’ program around in only four years, beating previously No. 1 Valley, which finished the season 10-1. The national title was LBCC’s fifth, but the first since 1964.

“I’ve been involved at the junior college level for a long time and this is the type of season you always shoot for,” said Reisbig, who has been a junior college coach at College of the Canyons, Pasadena and Long Beach for 17 years. “We’re surely going to enjoy this through the holidays.”

Leading the way for Long Beach was quarterback Neo Aoga, a 6-foot-4 265-pound sophomore, who completed 17 of 33 passes for 412 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for two scores.

Directing the Vikings’ run-and-shoot offense, Aoga had a season to remember by completing 206 of 384 passes for 3,626 yards and 37 touchdowns with 12 interceptions.

“He’s not only the biggest quarterback I’ve ever coached, but he is also the best,” said Reisbig about Aoga, who played only one season at Long Beach Poly High.

Paul Chafe, Aoga’s quarterback coach this season, has coached the Vikings since 1959 and several of his former signal-callers have played in the NFL, including Greg Barton, who led LBCC’s undefeated 1964 team and went on to play for the Detroit Lions.

“In our offense, he is a once-in-a-decade type of player,” Chafe said of Aoga. “He has great size and can outrun most defenders because he runs a legitimate 4.59 [seconds over 40 yards]. He’s big enough to shake off people and still get the ball off. And, he’s probably the best I’ve ever had in reading defenses and finding the open man by spreading the ball all across the field.”

LBCC’s turning point occurred in its seventh game, when the Vikings rallied from a 45-17 deficit with less than 11 minutes remaining against Palomar of San Diego and won, 46-45.

“After that game, the team believed that it could do anything,” Reisbig said. “Once we came back and won, things just started to mushroom for us.”

The Vikings, who averaged 41 points a game, also had Division I prospects in wide receiver Jason McCorvey, who set a school record with 44 catches for 1,045 yards and 13 touchdowns, and running back Shawn Bane, who rushed for 1,171 yards and 11 scores.

Most of the Viking players are from the Long Beach area and Reisbig does not fear a drop-off in LBCC’s program over the next decade, especially with more and more high school players failing to qualify academically for Division I scholarships because of tougher NCAA guidelines.

“We really started to notice the better players going to junior colleges this season, but over the next few years we’re going to see a lot more,” Reisbig said. “The level of [junior college] play has improved dramatically because the level of kids has improved.

“Guys now know that they have to put the work in before they can play at a Division I school. It’s not like it used to be, where players could just show up and play and then go to a four-year school. They now have to perform academically at the J.C. level too, and that’s where we really do a good job with our kids.”

Long Beach City has sent 538 players to four-year colleges on scholarship and that number will grow once this season’s players graduate. Reisbig credits the support of the Long Beach community and his coaching staff for the Vikings’ success.

“With the atmosphere around here, it helps you into winning,” Reisbig said. “We get the most support around for a community college program.”

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Greg Jackson won the 167-pound title to lead Cerritos College to the state junior college team wrestling championship with 118.5 points on Sunday. Fred Leavy, Rudolph James and Jeff Ware finished as runners-up for the Falcons in the 142, 158 and heavyweight divisions, respectively.

Other local winners were David Rivas and Anthony Valencia of East Los Angeles at 118 and 150 pounds, Joe Estrada of San Bernardino at 126, Omar Diaz and Phil Holmgren of Mt. San Antonio at 134 and 158, Alfred Frausto of Rancho Santiago at 142, and Jacob Ortiz of Golden West at 190.

Junior and Small College Notes

Golden West’s women’s volleyball team needed an extra game to defeat Long Beach, 15-11, on Sunday and win its third consecutive junior college state title. The Rustlers, who were forced into the extra game by losing to Long Beach in four games earlier in the day, were led by tournament MVP Jessica Redding, who had four key service points in the final game, and Ursula Luna, who had a team-high 18 kills in the tournament. Pasadena City finished third by defeating Kings River College, 8-15, 17-15, 15-13, 15-11, in the consolation match.

Sophomore Erika Mendoza scored three goals in leading Mt. SAC’s women’s soccer team to a 3-2 victory over Santa Rosa in the state junior college championship game Sunday. Mendoza was named tournament MVP and the Mounties finished with a 19-1-1 record.

After being temporarily discontinued last spring, baseball will return to Los Angeles City College this spring with Stephen Rousey as coach. LACC had announced that the baseball program would be replaced by men’s soccer after the resignation of Coach Daniel Cowgill, but a student-led protest prompted LACC President Jose Robledo to keep the 63-year old program for at least three more.

Tracy Little had 20 kills but it wasn’t enough as Cal Lutheran’s women’s volleyball team lost to Washington of Missouri, 15-6, 17-19, 13-15, 15-11, 15-11, in the NCAA Division III championship volleyball match Saturday at Whitewater, Wis. Liz Martinez, who had 59 assists and 17 digs in the tournament, and Little were named to the all-tournament team for Cal Lutheran, which finished 27-3.

Running back Anthony Jones of La Verne is one of 10 finalist for the 1995 Gagliardi Trophy, awarded to the outstanding Division III football player. . . . Cal State Los Angeles women’s volleyball player Kaili Kimura was a first-team academic selection in District VIII.