Cerritos Is Tough Test for Saddleback

History and national rankings will be against Saddleback when the Gauchos host Cerritos at 7 tonight in a Mission Conference football game.

Cerritos is 2-0, has outscored opponents, 71-17, and is ranked seventh in the nation by the J.C. Grid-Wire. Saddleback is 14th in the same publication. But Saddleback has the lingering euphoria of last week’s 24-21 overtime victory at El Camino. Saddleback trailed to start the fourth quarter, 21-6, but tied it in regulation and won it with Brett Thompson’s 37-yard field goal.

The victory was the Gauchos’ 18th in a row. But a lengthy Saddleback winning streak and Cerritos were an unhappy combination for the Gauchos in 1993.

Saddleback had a 20-game winning streak but lost to Cerritos in the second week of the 1993 season, 21-15.

In other games:

Fullerton (0-2) vs. Pasadena (2-0), Occidental College, 6 p.m.--Pasadena, ranked 17th in the nation by the J.C. Grid-Wire, is using Occidental’s field because of a major renovation project on the Lancers’ campus.

San Diego Mesa (0-2) vs. Golden West (0-2), Orange Coast, 1 p.m.--Golden West has an eight-game losing streak but San Diego Mesa has lost 22 in a row over parts of three seasons.

Santa Ana (0-1) at Long Beach (2-0), 7 p.m.--Long Beach outscored its first two opponents, 90-23. Santa Ana led at the half, 3-0, but lost to Mt. San Antonio last week, 20-10.