COC GETS REVENGE OVER GROSSMONT THIRD-QUARTER OUTBURST HELPS SEND COUGARS TO FINAL COC 30, GROSSMONT 0.Byline: Ramona Shelburne Ramona Shelburne is an American sports journalist currently writing for the Los Angeles Daily News. Shelburne was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She attended El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills, California where she was a class valedictorian. Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - 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 has been waiting all year to avenge last season's heartbreaking semifinal loss to Grossmont College Grossmont College is a community college located in El Cajon, California (county of San Diego). Grossmont College and Cuyamaca College make up the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District (GCCCD) with a single Governing Board and a Chancellor, currently Dr. Omero Suarez. . On Saturday night, the Cougars did more than avenge it. After a defensive-minded first half, COC See chip on chip. scored 23 points in the third quarter on its way to a 30-0 victory in the semifinals of the 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, Community College playoffs. The victory advanced COC (12-0) to the Southern California championship game next Saturday against top-seed and host Saddleback College Academics Saddleback College offers a wide range of programs in Advanced Technology and Applied Sciences, including courses in Aviation, Marine Science, Computer Science and Fashion Design. The academics are closely linked to Irvine Valley College, also part of the SOCCCD. of Mission Viejo Mission Vi·e·jo A community of southern California southeast of Irvine. It is mainly residential. Population: 96,300. . Running back Will Caldwell Will Caldwell was born 17.08.82, in Young, New South Wales . Will is an Australian rugby union footballer who currently plays for the New South Wales Waratahs in the international Super 14 competition. At 198 cm tall, and weighing in at 112kg, he is a promising lock. had 84 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns, both in the decisive third quarter. He leads COC with 13 touchdowns on the season. The Cougars posted their fifth shutout of the season by holding Grossmont (11-1) to only 1 yard rushing in the first half and 54 yards rushing on the game. ``I think people might overlook our defense but after tonight and after five shutouts this season, there's no way they can anymore,'' said COC defensive back Michael Carr, who intercepted a pass and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter. Former COC running back J.J. Arrington, who has gone on to star for No. 4 Cal, was the honorary captain for COC on Saturday. When Arrington played at COC in 2001-02, the Cougars were known more for their offense than anything they did on defense. ``Their defense is great,'' Arrington said of the 2004 team. ``When I was here, we threw the ball a lot and scored a lot of points. But I think their defense is better than any of the defenses we had when I was here.'' In the first half, it was COC's offense that struggled. Starting quarterback Cory Miles threw two first-half interceptions and was replaced by Marcel Marquez in the second quarter. Marquez played the rest of the first half and the two quarterbacks alternated the rest of the game. Miles played mostly in passing situations, the more athletic Marquez in running situations. ``We only led 7-0 at half time last week too so nothing need to be said,'' said Miles, who was 13 for 23 for 127 yards. ``We'd been talking about Grossmont since the summer ...so this was a big game.'' Last season, Grossmont defeated Canyons 14-10 in the semifinals when both teams were also undefeated. Because of a complicated set of playoff rules, that game was played at Grossmont, even though Canyons was ranked higher in the Southern California poll. This season, Grossmont was ranked higher in the poll, but the same rules worked to COC's benefit, and the home-field advantage proved important. In addition to being Grossmont's first night game of the season, it was bitterly cold in Santa Clarita. In the decisive third quarter, Grossmont had to play into a gusting wind, which hampered its passing game and contributed to several poor punts. Grossmont went three-and-out on its opening possession of the second half and punter Dan Zeidman shanked the ball out of bounds at the Grossmont 31-yard line. Three plays later, Caldwell punched it in for a 9-yard score to put the Cougars up 14-0. Jason Tompkins added a 50-yard field goal in the third quarter, to break the school single-season record. Ramona Shelburne, (818) 713-3617 ramona.shelburne(at)dailynews.com |
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