Recently in Chaffey College Category
Dress rehearsals are over. The curtain on the new football season comes up for real Saturday with all area junior college teams in action.
The most notable game will take place in the neighboring county as Victor Valley travels to Riverside Community College's Wheelock Field for a 6 p.m. showdown for the first ever meeting between the schools.
Two other games that would have been Foothill Conference contests in the past are now just nonconference tuneups after a complete retooling of the playoff structure. Chaffey will host Mt. San Jacinto while San Bernardino Valley College travels to College of the Desert, both kick off at 6 p.m.
Riverside and Chaffey are both part of the tougher Central Conference of the National Division while SBVC and Victor Valley are both in the weaker Mountain Conference of the American Division.
The nonconference games loom large for SBVC and Victor Valley because just two of the eight playoff berths will come from the American Division so this gives them a chance to show they belong.
The team in the stronger conference need to win against what are considered lesser foes because of the competition they will see in conference later in the season. The National Division will have six teams in the playoffs, including a handful of wildcards.
But coaches are focusing on the task right in front of them.
"Every game is as important as the next," said Riverside coach Bill Brown, starting his seventh year. "We haven't talked about any other team but Victor Valley."
Riverside was 4-5 a year ago. Sophomore quarterback Coy Glass, a Redlands High School product, leads the offense after sharing duty there last season. Brown indicated he would probably use several running backs and receivers to see who emerges.
The Rams, coming off a 3-7 season, scrimmaged Antelope Valley and Pomona-Pitzer last week and coach Dave Hoover was pleased, especially with his offense. He went through four quarterbacks last year and the offense never did click.
"We churned out some big plays and that's something we were lacking last year. We couldn't move the ball to save our life," he said. "Defensively we're quite young so I'm not quite sure what we have there. But that's something most coaches are probably saying this time of year."
Riverside will be the first of three tough nonconference games for the Rams. Next up is Palomar, then juggernaut Mt. SAC. Hoover is hoping his team survives the tough nonconference grind.
"Health is my biggest concern, playing the teams we're playing to start out," he said. Do I think we can win all three? No. But we're going to compete and I think we can play with anyone in our conference. But one or two injuries and we become very average very fast."
Both SBVC coach Pat Meech and Chaffey coach Carl Beach said right now there is not much of a different feel to the season since they are playing familiar foes, although in a different situation.
"I don't think it's much different for us as coaches because we're still playing teams we know and have played in the past," Meech said. "You're getting player turnover every couple of years so there isn't much familiary with any opponent."
SATURDAY GAMES
MT. SAN JACINTO at CHAFFEY
Time: 6 p.m.
About MSJ: The Eagles are looking to erase the memory of a 1-8 season in which the lone win came over San Diego Mesa. Second-year coach Casey Mazzotta returns QB Colin Wigley and inherited a transfer from SBVC in RB DeShaun Smith. The offensive line they have to work should be much improved led by Jose Acuna and center Sol Sagaio. Top defenders are OLB Ezra Latu, DE Zack Van Deusen and MLB Cole Moseley.
About Chaffey: The Panthers defeated the Eagles 28-10 last season in what was then a conferfence game. It is now a non-conference showdown. Greg Sprowls will run the offense called by new coordinator Matt Bechtel. Leading rusher Jahmel Rover (knee) is out so the Panthers will rely on backfield-by-committee with Tyler Thompson, John Alejandro and Matt Chase sharing the workload. Top cover man Mike Fields (knee) is also out but the Panthers should create pressure up front which is where their experience should be a factor. The biggest question mark will be Chaffey's kicking teams.
VICTOR VALLEY at RIVERSIDE
Time: 6 p.m.
About Victor: Coach Dave Hoover is excited about the potential of his offense led by quarterbacks Elisah Filipili and O'Ryan Bradley, both of whom should see playing time. Bradley is a transfer from UNLV where he tried to walk on. Hoover likes also likes the progress of his offensive line which consists of Alex Mitchell, Beau Humphrey, Louis Morales, Ramon Sandoval and Andrew Gomez - all High Desrt natives. WR Jarrett Partman will be out this week. Eric Brinkley, who has moved from linebacker to safety, and Aaron Mosley key the defense.
About Riverside: Redlands product Coy Glass directs the Tigers offense. Coach Bill Brown will use a stable of running backs in the early going with Cedric Foster, Ben Irwin, Ivan Lopez and Tanner Paes among those seeing action. Travis Carter, Corey Ham (Redlands) and Tommy Curry will be the key receivers. T.J. Tuigamala is the most experienced lineman. Jamell Murry and Andrew Smith (Redlands) lead the defense.
SAN BERNARDINO VALLEY at DESERT
Time: 6 p.m.
About Valley: Sophomore QB Mike Stadler returns but he will be surrounded by mostly newcomers - the most notable being San Bernardino High School alumn Dewayne Booker. He will backed up Devan Libran. Thad Quist and Terrance Humes anchor the offensive line with Humes coming back from a knee injury that sidelined him most of last season. Leaders on defense are S James Hutchins and LB Cordelle Nugent.
About Desert: The Roadrunners were conference champion last year in what was the Foothill Conference. They defeated the Wolverines 27-14 in that run. QB Brent Rausch (Hawaii) has departed but Desert inherited its usual boatload of out-of-state transfers with almost 50 from outside California.
- Compiled by Michelle Gardner
San Bernardino Valley College football coach Pat Meech knows his school lacks the resources to compete weekly against the more traditional powers in Southern California. Now he doesn't have to do so.
The junior college season will kick off this week and the entire conference structure and playoff format has been reworked. The Foothill Conference no longer exists. Adios Mission Conference. Sayonara Western State Conference.
The sport will now be governed under the umbrella of the Southern California Football Association.
Teams are separated into two divisions - the National and American. The National is subdivided into three seven-team conferences (Northern, Central, Southern) while the American has two eight-team conferences (Mountain, Pacific).
The National Division, the power conference, includes perennial title contenders such as Mt. SAC, Bakersfield and former Foothill Conference juggernaut Grossmont. Chaffey, Riverside and Citrus are among the other entrants.
SBVC and Victor Valley factor into the weaker American Divsion. But Meech doesn't mind being lumped into the also-ran category.
"Am I afraid of those schools? No. I would like to play them," he said. "But it would be crazy to think we can go head-to-head with those teams week after week after week."
Veteran Chaffey coach Carl Beach, who was on the committee that developed the new alignment, isn't quite sure his team is ready to battle the big boys, citing resources and enrollment but admits past success is the reason his school has been put in with the stronger teams.
"It's more about what we have done in the past. I'm not so sure we belong there but we'll see," he said.
The alignments will be reviewed every two years with some teams moving up or down depending on competitive balance.
A similar format has been used in the Northern part of the state for several years and received a favorable review.
When it comes to picking a field for the playoffs, eight teams will be chosen. Each of the three National Division conference will be given two spots for a total of six teams.
The American Division would qualify the winner of each conference for the final two spots, provided those teams finish with winning records. If a conference winner is not above .500, a wild-card would be chosen based on state power ranking.
There will be three additional bowl games for teams not making the playoffs to be awarded based on state ranking.
The original plan called for four teams to make the playoffs with all of those coming from the power division. The lesser schools balked at that idea so the current format was a compromise.
Beach said the committee wanted to get the new system in place. This one primarily divided teams based on their competitive history.
When the alignment is addressed again in two years he said more emphasis will be placed on enrollment, particularly a school's ability to draw out-of-state athletes. Resources and facilities will also be issues.
"I think it's fair," Meech added. "It will be good for us to play teams more like us."
Teams in the American Division will have seven conference games, then fill out their schedule with three games against the National Division, giving them a chance to boost their power ranking and see if they are competitive against those teams.
SBVC's nonconference foes will be Riverside, College of the Desert and Saddleback. The Wolverines have played Riverside 68 times, the first coming in 1926 but haven't faced the Tigers since 2002.
Victor Valley's opponents will be Riverside, Palomar and Mt. SAC.
Rams coach Dave Hoover was alright with the division of the teams but isn't happy with his brutal nonconference schedule.
"Not only are we probably playing the three best teams, we're playing the three most physical teams," he said. "It was a nice idea having the big dogs play the big dogs. It all makes sense. But their nonconference games should be against the teams in their divison in the other conferences."
Chaffey and the other teams in the National Division have six conference games and four non-conference contests.
The Panthers will square off against Mt. San Jacinto, Southwestern, Antelope Valley and Grossmont - all significantly longer trips than treking 20 minutes to SBVC.
While SBVC is excited about renewing its rivalry with Riverside, it is mystified why Chaffey wasn't included on the non-conference schedule since rivalries were also supposed to be kept in tact. That also baffles Beach.
Coaches were allowed to submit a list of three teams they wanted to keep games with and both SBVC and Chaffey listed the other as their top choice.
"It doesn't make sense. We have to pass them by to go to all out other games," Beach said.
Hoover asked to keep Antelope Valley, Desert and Chaffey and got none of those.
NATIONAL DIVISION
Northern Conference: Allan Hancock, Bakersfield, College of the Canyons, Glendale, Moopark, Pasadena City, Ventura
Central Conference: Cerritos,Chaffey, Citrus, College of the Desert, El Camino, Mt. SAC, Riverside
Southern Conference: Fullerton, Grossmont, Long Beach City, Orange Coast, Palomar, Saddleback, Santa Ana
AMERICAN DIVISION
Mountain Conference: Compton, Golden West, L.A. Harbor, Mt. San Jacinto, San Bernardino Valley,San Diego Mesa, Southwestern, Victor Valley
Pacific Conference: Antelope Valley, East Los Angeles, L.A. Pierce, L.A. Southwest, L.A. Valley,Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, West Los Angeles
Staff Writer
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - One wouldn't blame Marcus Austin if he were a
little bitter. The former Etiwanda High School standout was 47-1 as a
senior and about to finish off a wrestling match that would have
qualified him for the prestigious state championship meet.
Then the unthinkable - his left knee buckled. He knew it was bad.
``The first time I tried to stand up, I couldn't. It just wasn't
happening,'' he recalled.
Not only was Austin's dream of a state championship gone. So was
the possibility of an athletic scholarship. Now all he had to look
forward to was surgery and several grueling months of physical
therapy. Instead of sulking about it, he took it in stride.
``Stuff happens,'' he said. ``You can't worry about it. You have
to move on. It doesn't mean you can't be successful in whatever else
you do.''
So Austin, a 6-foot-1, 285-pounder, is appreciative of another
chance to compete. Sixteen months later he is back on the playing
field as a freshman defensive tackle at Chaffey College which opens
the 2008 campaign at 6 p.m. Saturday against Mt. San Jacinto at
Grigsby Field.
Austin, 19, says he took his cue from Dan Doughty, an assistant
wrestling coach at Etiwanda who suffered a less severe knee injury
during the district finals in Washington his senior year. He is part
of the reason Austin says he would like to pursue coaching or
teaching when his competitive days are over.
``I look at him and he is a good coach and he is successful in life
and has a great family,'' Austin said. ``There is life after sports.
That's why you have to have something to fall back on. Just in case.''
``His actually was a lot worse than mine. It was reeally bad,''
Doughty said. ``He had another knee injury two years before that and
came back. He has always been one of the most positive and upbeat
kids with a can-do attitude. So I had no doubt that he could come
back again.''
Austin spent his first football season on the freshman team but
was a three-year varsity starter after that. He was encouraged to
wrestle to keep in shape by Larry Cuthbert, the Eagles defensive
coordinator and the school's head wrestling coach. He starred for
four years in that sport in the heavyweight division.
That he excels in sports should be no surprise. Father Derrick
played football growing up in Alabama while mother Patty played on
the boys water polo team at Walnut High School and went on to compete
in track at Mt. SAC, excelling in the heptathlon.
Marcus considered other local schools including Mt. SAC but felt
most comfortable at Chaffey because of the coaching staff. He
attended all the home games last season, even though he couldn't play
but was healthy enough to take part in all the spring drills. He was
a little apprehensive at first but that didn't hold him back long.
``When you're worried about getting hurt, that's usually when you
get hurt,'' he said. ``You can't let that hold you back.''
The ironies of Austin's wrestling injury are many. The athlete
he was wrestling in that match happened to be David Williams of
Miller, who ended up finishing fourth in the state. He now lines up
next to Austin on the defensive front.
Beach was at that Masters meet at Carter High School. He was one
of many coaches hoping to land Austin who was also being courted by
several four-year schools. But the injury secured Beach's chances of
keeping the two-sport standout close to home.
``Coming off an injury like that, no one was going to touch
him,'' Beach said. ``He is going to have to go out this season and
show he is completely healthy. If he does that, he'll have another
shot because he has potential.''
Beach has been most impressed with Austin's goal-oriented attitude.
``He has a good head on his shoulders,'' Beach said. ``He's not
one of those kids putting all his eggs in one basket. He has done a
good job developing other life skills.''
Area college football fans can get their first look at the 2008 Chaffey Panthers this week. Coach Carl Beach's team will play an exhibition scrimmage at 11 a.m. Friday at Grigsby Field against Palomar College.
Beach said he has played that foe the last several years in a practice game.
"They're usually a very good team with some size," he said. "You always want to play someone that is pretty competitive so you can see how you stack up. And it's a not a team in our conference or one that we're going to see during the season. It just seems to work for both of us so why change it."
There will be no admission charge.
Two Chaffey College basketball standouts have decided their future plans. Jeffrey Sawyer is headed to Division II Bloomfield College in New Jersey while Stephon Richardson will attend NAIA Bacone College in Oklahoma.
Sawyer, a 6-foot-3 forward out of Miller High School, averaged 4.3 points and 3.2 rebounds. He transferred from San Bernardino Valley College where he helped the Wolverines to a Foothill Conference title as a freshman.
Richardson, a 5-10 guard out of Montclair High School, averaged 3.8 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists.
Thompson has signed with Division I Northern Colorado University in
Greely, Col.
Thompson, a Damien High School graduate, excelled for the Panthers
for two year despite being undersized at 5-foot-11. he was also a
threat on special teams, earning All-Foothill Conference honors as a
return man.
He is one of three locals who will be playing for the Bears next
season. Among the others who signed there earlier in the spring are
Ayala quarterback Matthew Baca and quarterback Bryan Waggener, a
resident of Chino Hills who played at Citrus and is transferring from
University of Florida where he played behind Tim Tebow.
The Bears ended last season 1-11. They open the 2008 season at Big 10
contender Purdue.
Seven volleyball players from Southern California, six of whom competed in the Foothill Conference, will be taking their games to a little-known town in Oklahoma in the fall.
The contingent headed to Bacone College in Muskogee, Okla. is headed by Chaffey College libero Emilie Shewmaker and Citrus College setter Janelle Martinez who are close friends.
Rounding out the group are outside hitter Riley Collins of conference champion College of the Desert and outside hitter Dorinda Cherry, outside hitter Amy Mulcock, rightside hitter Jewel Robinson and middle blocker Kami Speir, all out of Mt. San Jacinto.
The fact that eight athletes from the area are headed to a town of 38,000 located a half hour out of Tulsa didn't happen by accident.
The Bacone program is directed by Indio native Bianca Oakley, who played volleyball and softball at Desert, continued her playing career at Bacone and just completed her first year as head coach.
"She wanted to recruit a lot of California players," said Shewmaker, who has visited the school twice. "It should be fun with all of us going out there together."
Shewmaker said had talked to Collins at some tournaments but didn't know any of the girls from Mt. San Jacinto until meeting one of them on her first visit. Now she is trying to arrange a beach day for the eight to get together before they head off to college.
"It would be nice to get to know each other a little bit before we get there," she said.
Shewmaker (Don Lugo) played in 61 games and recorded 294 digs for the Panthers, who finished 6-12 overall and 5-7 in Foothill Conference play.
Martinez, a native of Rancho Cucamonga who played at South Hills High School, chalked up 478 assists in 52 games for an average of 9.19 per game for the Owls (10-15, 4-6), who were fourth in the Western States Conference South Division.
Two sophomores who helped Chaffey College to a 30-9 record and its third straight Foothill Conference title have decided the next step of their college careers.
First-team all-conference infielder Ryan Delgado is headed to NAIA contender Azusa Pacific University while second-team pitcher Andrew Steinmeyer will play at Biola, also an NAIA institution.
Delgado, who prepped at Damien High School, batted .329 with 11 doubles, one triple, 11 home runs and 43 RBI. He boasted a slugging percentage of .657 and an on-base percentage of .430. The highlight was a grand slam home run in a playoff game against local rival Riverside Community College.
Steinmeyer, a left-hander out of Corona High School, went 5-1 with a 3.86 ERA and batting average against of .228. He pitched 44 and a third innings, allowing 37 hits, 19 earned runs and 29 strikeouts with 13 walks.
- Michelle Gardner
Fresno City College topped all other junior college athletic programs and has been named winner of the National Alliance of Two-Year Colleges Athletic Administrator's Cup for the 2007-2008 school year.
Fresno totaled 164 points as the top four schools were within seven points. It was followed by Cerritos (160), Sierra (159) and Mt. SAC (157).
Riverside Community College was sixth (139.5).
Other local schools finished in the middle portion of the 103 school rankings.
Chaffey was 41st with 40 points, getting all its points in the pool. The Panthers got 15.5 points in women's water polo, 14.5 in men's swimming and 10 in women's swimming.
San Bernardino Valley College was 47th (28.5), with 20 coming for its state championship in men's cross country and the other 8.5 coming in women's soccer which finished as the Foothill Conference runner-up.
The Chaffey College baseball team waited a little too long to make its move Friday. By the time it did, it was a little too late.
The Panthers fell to host Riverside Community College 7-6 in the opening game of a best-of-three Southern California Regional at Chaffey. The teams will play again at 11 a.m. today, with the deciding game to follow if Chaffey wins.
"We didn't cash in early when we had some chances and that was the difference," Panthers coach Jeff Harlow said. "We always play well at home and we feel we can come back at any time, but we dug ourselves too big a hole."
The Tigers (28-17), the fifth place team out of the Orange Empire Conference, surged out to a 7-1 lead, scoring six of those runs with two outs.
Cody Madison was the main contributor to RCC's early rallies, stroking a two-run home run in the third off Chaffey starter Andrew Schile to give the visitors a 3-0 lead.
He added a three-run double off reliever Julian Ramirez in the sixth that extended the Tigers' lead to 7-1.
Foothill Conference champion Chaffey (30-10) began its comeback in the bottom of the inning, aided by the control touble of Riverside starter Erick Carrillo.
Jonathan Peters singled and James Koerner and Josh Manzano worked walks to load the bases with none out. Carrillo came close to working out of the jam, enticing strikeouts from Mychal Johnson and Jonathan Costantino, both of whom swung at pitches in the dirt.
Gerry Hernandez showed a little more patience by working the count to 3-2 before walking, forcing home a run to cut the deficit to 7-2.
It became a game again seconds later when Ryan Delgado blasted a first-pitch slider from Carrillo over the right-center fence, a grand slam that cut the deficit to 7-6.
The Panthers were just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position before the blast and were just 2-for-14 in the game in that department.
"I was just looking for a pitch I could drive," said Delgado, who now has 11 home runs this season. "That felt could because it gave us some momentum."
Willie Holmes just missed tying the game seconds later, blasting an offering from reliever Sean Greer off the top of the center-field fence for a triple.
Anthony Delgado then walked and stole second, but the rally ended there when Madison chased down a deep fly ball off the bat of Peters.
The bullpens of the respective teams then restored order: Neither team had a 1-2-3 innings through the first seven, but both did in the eighth and ninth.
Schile (9-3), the conference pitcher of the year, took the loss. He gave up four runs and eight hits and struck out five while walking two, and exited with the Panthers down 4-1.
Ramirez pitched 4 and a third innings and held the Tigers scoreless over the three, retiring the final nine hitters he faced.
Carrillo (3-1) earned the win. He scattered seven hits, five walks and six strikeouts.
Right-hander Kyle Morgan, a freshman out of Redlands East Valley, retired nine of the 10 hitters he faced over three innings to notch his second save for RCC.
"We're coming in here tomorrow with the thought of winning two," Harlow said. "This team battles and never gives up. We showed that today."
