Saddleback Football Team Earns Top Honors in Poll

Saddleback College’s football team, which finished 11-0 this season, earned a share of the national championship in the final USA Today National Community College Coaches Alliance poll released Friday.

Saddleback tied for the top spot with Blinn (Texas), which finished 12-0.

Blinn was No. 1 and Saddleback No. 2 in the J.C. Grid-Wire’s rankings, which were released Tuesday.

It’s the first national championship for Coach Bill Cunerty, who is in his second year as head coach after working 14 seasons as an assistant.

Saddleback finished the 1995 season with a six-game winning streak then went undefeated this season, including beating host Sacramento, 37-28, in the Capital Shine Bowl two weeks ago.

Sacramento was ranked third in the nation at the time.

Blinn ended its season by beating No. 4 Coffeyville, 42-13, in the Mineral Water Bowl.

The national title is the third for Saddleback, which also won in 1985 and 1992 under Coach Ken Swearingen.