Hartnell College gets Grizzly Bowl bid
MPC clinches sole possession of title
SAN JOSE >> Having equaled its win total over the past two falls combined was enough to earn Hartnell College's football team a reward in the form of a bowl game.
While falling 19-7 Saturday to San Jose City College Saturday leaves the Panthers in third place in the conference, the seven overall wins will put Hartnell in the Grizzly Bowl against College of the Redwoods on Dec. 2, its first bowl game in five years.
“I'm disappointed in today's result,” Hartnell coach Matt Collins said. “We had a shot to win this game. You look in the mirror and sometimes you feel like you beat yourselves. It's not like we're not in games. I'm proud of how these kids handled this season.”
Hartnell has played most of the season with just 32 players — 30 against the Jaguars. Many community college teams suit up 50 or more. At Hartnell, meanwhile, more than a handful of its players are seeing action on both sides of the ball.
“With our numbers, it could have been a long year,” said Collins, now in his 17th season. “The character of this football team gave us some hope back in August. It's unique to be a sevenwin team with the roster size we have.”
Surrendering 13 points to San Jose to open the game, the Panthers cut the deficit to seven just before the half when Adam Shaffer found Cade Smith on a 61yard touchdown pass to get to within six.
Hartnell's defense, anchored by linebacker Kasey Mena, held the 8-2 Jaguars scoreless until late in the game when they added a touchdown.
“It's been tough to field a team since coming out of the pandemic,” said Collins, whose squad opened the season with six straight wins. “This should help with recruiting. It's tough to find 50 kids. But we're a competitive program.”
MPC 35, Merced 7
On the heels of an emotional conference win in their final home game last week, the Lobos made sure there would be no sharing the title this fall.
Monterey Peninsula College completed an undefeated American Golden Coast Conference season for the second time in three years, closing the regular season with four straight wins.
During its three-year run at supremacy in the conference under third-year head coach Ronnie Palmer, the Lobos are 15-1 in conference play. It's the first
time in the program's more than 70 they have won three straight conference titles.
MPC (8-2) will compete in a bowl game in two weeks for the third straight year — likely a rematch with Football of Los Altos Hills, which won the American Pacific 7 Conference, going 10-0, including a 40-24 win at MPC.
Last year MPC went on the road and beat Redwoods in the Grizzly Bowl to avenge an earlier season loss.
Coming into the game as one of the state team leaders in interceptions, the Lobos added three more to increase their total to 32, with Maurice Mathis returning a pair for interceptions for touchdowns, including a 96-yarder in the fourth quarter.
Jesus Organista added a 30-yard touchdown run for MPC, while Cameron Brown caught a touchdown pass from Miekael Brooker. Anthony Cortez also had a touchdown pass.
Linebackers Rossi Oteri and Jabari Reynolds both collected sacks for the Lobos, who held Merced out of the end zone in the second
half.
Volleyball MPC 3, Folsom Lake 0
Monterey High grad Elle Mitchell and Alma Nordmark combined for 34 assists as the Lobos opened the Northern California Regional playoffs with a 25-16, 25-22, 25-21 win over Folsom Lake.
Maggie Tabel compiled eight blocks for MPC, which finished second in the Coast Conference to Hartnell. Salinas grad Brooke Cannon finished with 15 digs, while Logan McPherson collected 12 kills.
Men's soccer Cal Poly Pomona 4, CSUMB 1
The Otters first appearance in the NCAA Division II tournament was brief as they fell to 15-1-5 Cal Poly Pomona.
CSUMB, which came into the tournament ranked nationally for the first time in school history, finished the season 12-5-2. Three of its losses came from the Mustangs.
The Otters found themselves down 4-0 in the first half before Hugo VargasRios scored in the 31st minute of the match.