Antelope Valley, Moorpark Go Bowling Today

Twelve weeks after opening the season against each other, Antelope Valley and Moorpark colleges will square off against different opponents today in junior college football bowl games.

Antelope Valley (7-3) will host Santa Ana (7-3) in the inaugural McDonald’s Community College Bowl at 5 p.m.

Moorpark (6-4) will play at Santa Barbara (6-4) in the Western State Conference Bowl at 1 p.m.

Antelope Valley, playing in its first bowl game in four years, has never played Santa Ana (formerly Rancho Santiago) in its 51-year history.

Moorpark is appearing in a bowl for the 10th consecutive season and is seeking revenge against Santa Barbara, which defeated the Raiders, 38-20, on Oct. 11.

Moorpark Coach Jim Bittner said he hopes the Raiders will be more successful this time against quarterback Anthony Ramos, who rushed for three touchdowns and passed for another to help the Vaqueros overcome a 14-10 Moorpark lead.

Ramos, former Santa Barbara County player of the year at Dos Pueblos High, has passed for 1,774 yards and 21 touchdowns. He has rushed for 356 yards and nine touchdowns.

“That’s going to be a major problem to contain him,” Bittner said. “He’s a scoring machine.”

Moorpark has switched quarterbacks since its loss to Santa Barbara. Freshman Calvin Zinck has replaced sophomore George Jones, who has moved to wide receiver.

The Raiders’ strength is their running game. Freshman Carl Richardson has rushed for 1,195 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Richardson rushed for a school-record 319 yards two weeks ago against Valley. A week earlier, he scored a school-record six touchdowns against Harbor.

Against Santa Barbara, Richardson fumbled twice to short-circuit first-half drives. Moorpark committed four turnovers in the game.

“We had a lot of turnovers last time,” Richardson said. “We didn’t get our rhythm going.”

Antelope Valley, which finished second in the Foothill Conference, has played six bowl games in 10 years. The Marauders’ last bowl victory was 24-23 over Glendale in the K-Swiss Bowl in 1992.

Lafayette Bailey has rushed for 856 yards and 10 touchdowns for Antelope Valley.

The Marauder defense, ranked third in the Foothill Conference, must contend with freshman quarterback Archie Lappin, who has passed for 1,351 yards and 12 touchdowns, and has rushed for 321 yards.

Lappin has had only four of his 170 passes intercepted. The Dons have won seven consecutive games after an 0-3 start.

Freshman Tramel Robinson has rushed for 1,148 yards and 15 touchdowns, and was selected the Mission Conference Central Division player of the year.

Santa Ana is making its ninth bowl-game appearance. The Dons lost to Chaffey, 29-7, in the Upland Ford Bowl last season. Santa Ana defeated Moorpark, 31-28, in the 1989 Orange County Bowl.