Golden West Now #1 In The State, 3rd in the Nation

Golden West Now #1 and CCSF #2; Title Showdowns On Tap

 San Mateo (Nov. 2, 2015) – Golden West College (8-0), the state's last remaining National (state championship) Division unbeaten team, is the JC Athletic Bureau's new No. 1 football team in the California Community College Athletic Association as league races head down to the wire. Riverside, which had been top ranked much of the first half of the season, knocked off last week's No. 1 team, Long Beach, 34-14, during a weekend which also saw No. 4 Cerritos, No.5 Canyons, and No. 6 Modesto suffer losses. Long Beach (7-1) fell to No. 3. City College of San Francisco (7-1) moved up a notch to No. 2. Completing the revised top seven are No. 4 San Mateo, No. 5 Riverside, No. 6 American River, and No. 7 Saddleback.

SHOWDOWNS FOR STATE BERTHS: With four state championship berths (three league winners and a wild card) at stake in both regions, here's how the final National Division battles shape up: Southern California: National Southern has two league unbeatens. Saddleback (5-0) has only a Nov. 14 showdown with 4-0 Golden West remaining. Golden West entertains contending 16th-ranked Orange Coast (5-3, 3-1) first, on Saturday.  

There's a virtual 3-way tie of one-loss teams in the other two leagues. National Northern: Eighth-ranked Cerritos (7-2, 4-1) has just one game remaining, Nov. 14 -- hosting No. 11 Canyons (6-2, 3-1). No. 13 Ventura (5-3, 3-1), which beat Canyons, 54-48, on Halloween -- but has lost to Cerritos -- finishes with Hancock and Bakersfield. Moorpark (3-5, 2-2) jumbled things by beating Cerritos, 41-35, Saturday and could cause more trouble at Canyons on Nov. 7. In the National Central, the three potential co-champs have already split with each other. Each faces a chase pack team that – with a sweep -- could create a 5-way deadlock. Defending state champ No. 9 Mt. San Antonio (6-3, 4-1) finishes Saturday, hosting El Camino (3-5, 2-2). Long Beach (7-1, 3-1) hosts Citrus (2-6, 1-3) Nov. 7 and visits El Camino Nov. 14. Riverside (6-2, 3-1) hosts contender No. 18 Chaffey (5-3, 2-2) Nov. 7 and visits Citrus (2-6, 1-3) Nov. 14. 

Northern California: The National NorCal title will be decided Saturday when defending champion American River (6-2, 3-0) visits co-leader No. 15 Butte (5-3, 3-0). Everyone else is two games back. National Bay 6 leader CCSF (7-1, 3-0) hosts De Anza (2-6, 0-3) Saturday and then closes at San Mateo (6-2, 2-1) Nov. 14. San Mateo has to first visit still contending No. 21 Diablo Valley (4-4, 2-1) Friday evening. National Valley: No. 10 Chabot (6-2, 3-0) took control with its 60-53 overtime win over now No. 12 Modesto but must finish on the road at Sequoias (4-4, 0-3) and Laney (4-4, 1-2). Modesto (5-3, 2-1) hosts Fresno (4-4, 1-2) Saturday and then closes at co-second place San Joaquin Delta (4-4, 2-1).

--State playoff quarterfinals will be played regionally on Nov. 21, with semis on Nov. 28. North champ hosts state title game Dec. 12

 American Division NORTH: Golden Coast co-leader and 19th ranked Hartnell (8-0, 4-0) hosts third place Reedley (5-3, 3-1) Saturday and closes at co-leader West Hills (7-1, 4-0) Nov. 14. West Hills will be at Merced 3-5, 1-3) Saturday. The Pacific 7 has a 3-way deadlock after Shasta (6-2, 3-1) defeated visiting Contra Costa (7-1, 3-1), 34-21, Saturday. Los Medanos (4-4, 3-1) gets its say Nov. 7, hosting Shasta, while Contra Costa entertains Mendocino (2-6, 1-3). SOUTH: Pacific leader No. 20 Santa Monica (8-0, 5-0) is at fourth place Santa Barbara (4-4, 3-2) Nov. 7 and closes with visiting co-second LA Pierce (5-3, 4-1) Nov. 14. Co-second LA Valley (6-2, 4-1) bounced back from a close, 28-20, loss to Santa Monica to beat Pierce, 39-7, and finishes with Glendale (3-5, 2-3) and West LA (1-7, 3-5) -- while hoping for help from Pierce. Mountain leader Desert (5-3, 5-0) hosts defending champ Victor Valley (7-1, 4-1) while Southwestern (3-5, 2-3) is a co-second San Bernardino Valley (7-1, 4-1) Saturday--with a 3-way deadlock possible.

Rk  College                         Record  Pts.    Prv

 1.   Golden West        [11]      8-0       323      2

 2.   San Francisco                 [2]        7-1       310      3

 3.   Long Beach                     7-1       284      1

 4.   San Mateo                        6-2       274      8

 5.   Riverside                          6-2       269      10

 6.   American River                6-2       261      7

 7.   Saddleback                      7-2       241      9

 8.   Cerritos                            7-2       225      4

 9.   Mt. San Antonio               6-3       219      12

10.  Chabot                             6-2       210      11

11.  Canyons                           6-2       195      5

12.  Modesto                           5-3       185      6

13. Ventura                            5-3       179      14

14.  Santa Rosa                      5-3       153      15

15.  Butte                                5-3       147      16

16.  Orange Coast                  5-3       118      19

17.  Fullerton                           5-4       108      13

18   Chaffey                            5-3       94       23

19.  Hartnell                             8-0       62       21

20.  Santa Monica                   8-0       60       22

21.  Diablo Valley                    4-4       55       17

22.  Victor Valley                    7-1       41       25

23.  Siskiyous                         4-4       39       nr

24.  San Bernardino Valley     7-1       36       24

25.  San Joaquin Delta            4-4       34       nr

National Rankings can be found here.