Santa Ana Gets Distant Bowl Assignment

Managers of the community college football bowl games met Sunday and sent Santa Ana packing.

The Dons, who have won seven in a row, play Antelope Valley on Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. in the Antelope Valley McDonald’s Bowl.

It’s the third bowl appearance in four years for Santa Ana (7-3), which was in the Simple Green Bowl in 1994 and in the Upland Bowl in 1995.

Santa Ana won the Central Division of the Mission Conference; Antelope Valley (7-3) finished second in the Foothill Conference. The teams have never played each other.

“I don’t really know much about [Antelope Valley],” Santa Ana Coach Dave Ogas said. “But it will be something a little different.”

Long Beach (8-2) and Hancock (8-2) will play in the Simple Green Orange County Bowl Dec. 6 at Orange Coast College.

Game manager Doug Bennett was forced to select teams outside of Orange County because Santa Ana wanted to play in a bowl it had not been in before. Santa Ana has made three trips to the Simple Green Bowl, winning twice.

Mt. San Antonio (10-0) tried to convince state officials to get a home game despite not hosting a bowl. That bid failed and the Mounties are headed to the Potato Bowl, where they will face Bakersfield (9-1).

The winner of that game qualifies for the state title game Dec. 13 at Cal State Fullerton. The Southern California champion meets the winner of San Francisco (10-0) and Butte (8-2). That game will be Dec. 6 in San Francisco.