JCGridiron.com - Many teams still holding national title hopes

October 5, 2009

Brad Hoiseth
JCGridiron.com Publisher

With things getting ready to sort themselves out in the respective conferences over the next few weeks, as many as 20 teams are still holding out hopes of winning the JCGridiron.com Dirty 30 national title. Fifteen teams still remain unbeaten on the season, many of which will play one another in the coming month of the season.

Very little changed in the top-5, as El Camino (Calif.), San Francisco (Calif.), Navarro (TX, Butte (Calif.) and Blinn (TX) all held serve for the week. With the exception of Navarro, none of the other teams at the top-5 were really tested over the weekend.

No. 1 El Camino received a bit of a test for three quarters, but scored 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to beat Riverside College, 41-16. The Warriors received 124 yards rushing and two touchdowns from Kenny Ashley in improving to 5-0 on the season. El Camino has a couple more comfort games to go along with a bye before playing No. 10 Mt. SAC (Calif.) and No. 15 Cerritos (Calif.) over the final three weeks of the season.

No. 2 San Francisco took apart West Hills College (Calif.) 54-25 on Saturday, running its record to 5-0 on the season. The Rams will take center stage next weekend when they travel to Butte College (Calif.) to take on the No. 4 Roadrunners. Butte is the defending Dirty 30 national champions and improved to 5-0 with a 29-7 win over San Joaquin Delta College (Calif.) over the weekend. The Roadrunners have another chance to shrug off all doubters that they were a one-year wonder, and have been beating teams by an average of 31 points on the season. Both teams have a bye this coming Saturday.

Blinn moved up to No. 3 in the rankings, swapping spots with in-state rival Navarro College after an impressive 60-31 thumping of previously ranked Tyler (TX). The Buccaneers now appear to have the upper-hand on No. 5 Navarro, as the Bulldogs lost their starting quarterback for the year due to a foot injury. Navarro persevered with the second and third string quarterback over the weekend, scoring 21 straight points in the third quarter to hold off No. 37 Trinity Valley (TX), 42-32. The two teams will get a chance to settle the score on Halloween as they meet on the final day of the regular season, and another battle could come in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference playoffs.

Fort Scott (KS) has quietly moved up to No. 6 in the national rankings and appears to have solved some things on both sides of the ball. The Greyhounds took apart Independence College (KS) 31-9 on Saturday and have outscored their past two opponents, 62-9. The biggest battle remaining on the schedule is a Halloween war with No. 8 Butler, in what will likely decide the Jayhawk regular season title. Much like the Texas ranks, both teams will likely meet one another again in the conference playoffs following the season. Butler won a defensive battle over the weekend with Hutchinson College (KS), 13-10, when they kicked a 42-yard field goal with two seconds remaining on the clock.

Saddleback College (Calif.) dropped a spot to No. 7 in the rankings but proved a game is never over until it is over when they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat over the weekend against No. 38 Santa Ana College, 42-38. The Gauchos trailed by 17 points midway through the fourth quarter before storming back to win with some big defensive plays and a bit of trickery on offense. Saddleback effectively pulled off the hook-and-ladder for 70 yards to set up the winning touchdown pass from David Ingram to T.J. Knowles with just under three minutes remaining in the game, thus turning back the gritty Dons on a day when they did not have their best stuff. The Gauchos will have plenty of opportunities to send a message to the rankings official over the next five games, as they will face No. 21 Palomar, No. 19 Fullerton, No. 14 Grossmont and previously ranked Orange Coast (4-1) over the last half of the schedule.

JCGridiron.com Dirty 30 (October 5, 2009)
1. El Camino (Calif.) 5-0
2. City College of San Francisco (Calif.) 5-0
3. Blinn (TX) 4-0
4. Butte (Calif.) 5-0
5. Navarro (TX) 5-0
6. Fort Scott (KS) 5-0
7. Saddleback (Calif.) 5-0
8. Butler (KS) 4-1
9. Mississippi Gulf Coast 5-1
10. Mt. SAC (Calif.) 3-1
11. Arizona Western 5-0
12. San Mateo (Calif.) 5-0
13. East Mississippi 5-1
14. Grossmont (Calif.) 5-0
15. Cerritos (Calif.) 5-0
16. Bakersfield (Calif.) 4-1
17. Grand Rapids (MI) 5-0
18. Allan Hancock (Calif.) 5-0
19. Fullerton (Calif.) 4-1
20. Northwest Mississippi 4-2
21. Palomar (Calif.) 4-1
22. Los Angeles Harbor (Calif.) 5-0
23. Fresno City (Calif.) 3-2
24. American River (Calif.) 4-1
25. Canyons (Calif.) 3-2
26. Santa Rosa (Calif.) 4-1
27. Rochester (MN) 6-0
28. Pasadena City (Calif.) 3-2
29. Jones County (MS) 4-2
30. Snow (UT) 5-1
Others on the bubble: Ventura (Calif.) 4-1, Hutchinson (KS) 3-2, Ellsworth (IA) 3-2, Pearl River (MS) 4-2, Phoenix (AZ) 3-1, Reedley (Calif.) 3-2, Trinity Valley (TX) 3-2, Santa Ana (Calif.) 3-2, Iowa Central 2-2, Eastern Arizona 3-1

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