CANYONS AIMS FOR SPOT IN TITLE GAME.Byline: Erik Boal Special to the Daily News After turning in its most dominant defensive effort of the season in last weekend's victory over Grossmont, the College of the Canyons College of the Canyons is one of the fastest-growing community colleges in the state. According to the National Junior College Research Association, College of the Canyons consistently ranks in the top 50 community colleges in the nation. football team spent the past week trying to defend itself against a big letdown. In an emotional showdown, the second-seeded Cougars (12-0) avenged its loss to Grossmont in last year's Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, regional semifinals. Now COC See chip on chip. is looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. similar magic today against top-seeded Saddleback Saddleback see Wessex saddleback. of Mission Viejo Mission Vi·e·jo A community of southern California southeast of Irvine. It is mainly residential. Population: 96,300. (11-1) in the regional final. ``(A letdown) is a definite possibility,'' said COC coach Chuck Lyon, whose team has blanked its past two opponents and three of its past four. ``They wanted Grossmont so bad, and that's why this game scares the hell out of me. ``It was like we got our revenge, and that's enough. I've brought it to their attention, and I hope it woke them up.'' The Cougars have been outstanding the past five games, especially on defense. They have given up just 25 points since a 48-45 Western State Conference victory Oct. 22 at Valley College. COC will need to another solid effort to reach the Orel E. Micham Mineral King Bowl - the state championship game - Dec. 11 in Visalia. The winner will face national No. 1 City College of San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden or Fresno City, which meet in today's Northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern regional final. ``We've had an unbelievable defensive effort all season,'' said Lyon, whose team has surrendered 139 points, far fewer than Saddleback (244). ``I have no problem saying they could be the best defensive team in the state. What they've done the past two weeks, especially against teams like El Camino and Grossmont, says a lot about how strong they are.'' COC will encounter another high-octane offensive attack, led by quarterback Colt Brennan Colton James Brennan (born August 16, 1983 in Laguna Beach, California) is an American football quarterback at the University of Hawaiʻi. , whom Lyon calls the best in Southern California. Brennan, who threw for 2,532 yards and 23 touchdowns during the regular season, has been superb during the playoffs. He completed 20 of 35 for 290 yards in a 21-18 first-round victory over Mt. San Antonio of Walnut, then passed for 326 yards, completing 21 of 35, in a 41-25 semifinal win over Long Beach City. ``The quarterback that plays the best under pressure will win,'' said Lyon, who benched sophomore Cory Miles, in favor of freshman Marcel Marquez, after Miles threw two first-half interceptions against Grossmont. ``Both quarterbacks will be pressured, but it will come down to who handles it best. Their offense is one of the few that can compete with ours. But I think our defense is better than theirs.'' Saddleback will seek to get receiver Jerard Rabb involved early. Rabb caught 64 passes for 996 yards and 12 touchdowns during the regular season and has 13 receptions for 279 yards and two touchdowns in the playoffs. Quincy Lever (34 receptions, 510 yards, three touchdowns during regular season) caught five balls for 60 yards against LBCC LBCC Linn Benton Community College LBCC Long Beach Community College LBCC Little Britain Challenge Cup (UK) LBCC Lower Bucks County Chamber of Commerce (Pennsylvania) . Lyon will look for COC sophomore Tyrell Smith to offset Rabb and Lever. Smith ranked second in the state with 78 catches for 1,045 yards and 10 touchdowns during the regular season, but he's caught only eight passes for 72 yards in the Cougars' playoff wins. ``That's the plan, but you just don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. how they'll respond,'' Lyon said. ``These are big games, and in these games, kids' personalities change. Some kids rise and some kids fall. But that's part of why you play the game.'' COC's passing game has struggled the past two weeks, but its running attack has become more productive with each outing. The Cougars rushed for 231 yards and three touchdowns against Grossmont; Saddleback's defense finished the regular season ranked 27th in the state. Will Caldwell, Gerrel Cain and Brandon Clayton combined to carry the ball 34 times for 176 yards against Grossmont, giving COC a better than two-to-one edge in time of possession. ``I'll give any one of those guys the ball in the fourth quarter,'' Lyon said. ``I just hope we're in (a good) position when that time comes.'' SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL FINAL Who: No. 2 College of the Canyons (12-0) vs. No. 1 Saddleback (11-1). Kickoff: 5 p.m., Saddleback College, Mission Viejo. What's at stake: A berth in the Dec. 11 Orel E. Micham Mineral King Bowl in Visalia against the Northern California champion, City College of San Francisco or Fresno City College Fresno City College (or FCC) is a city college in Fresno, California. Established in 1910, it was the first community college in California and the second in the nation. . CAPTION(S): box Box: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGIONAL FINAL (see text) |
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