COLLEGE FOOTBALL: RAIDERS TO BE REDEEMED? : MOORPARK WILL OPEN FOOTBALL SEASON AGAINST CHAFFEY.

Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer

A chance for redemption couldn't come at a better time. The Moorpark College football team opens its season against Chaffey College, the team that beat the Raiders in last year's Southern California Bowl.

Moorpark had the option of opening against Chaffey or San Bernardino. It didn't take coach Jim Bittner long to choose.

``I really wanted to play (Chaffey) again,'' he said. ``They had a real good team and were real sportsmanlike. I liked their program.

``When we played them, we didn't play our best game. If we got another chance at them, I felt we could beat them. I figured the guys would be more fired up to play them than San Bernardino, who we haven't played in nine years.''

Chaffey went 9-2 last season, including a 35-28 upset of Moorpark in the postseason. The loss to the Panthers ended a winning streak at nine games for the Raiders, who finished 9-2.

The coveted team: Bakersfield is one team not on Moorpark's schedule this year. The Renegades, who won the 1998 North Division championship, are usually among the WSC's toughest teams and are a favorite opponent of the Raiders because of the benefit the matchup can bring in a quest for a bowl game. The points used to rank teams for bowl berths are determined in part by strength of schedule.

``If you want to get into the big bowl games, you need as many points as you can get,'' Bittner said. ``You get more points for playing better teams. It would be beneficial to play Bakersfield.

``Other than that, it's a good schedule.''

On the move: Moorpark football is back in the Western State Conference's North Division this year. The Raiders were originally in the North but were put in the South when Bakersfield wanted to play in the North. Moorpark spent recent years in the South because Moorpark and Bakersfield are two of the WSC's strongest programs and officials wanted to separate the teams. Bakersfield is moving back to the South, allowing Moorpark to play in the same division in which it competes in other sports.

``We sort of like it, to tell you the truth,'' Bittner said of the switch. ``We're playing some teams we haven't played in a while. I think it's a good change. I think we'll get better crowds this way, too.''

Another try: Farhaad Azimi vied for the starting quarterback job last season after transferring from BYU. He was injured in the first game and missed the rest of the season. The Rio Mesa graduate is back and hasn't shown signs of being affected by last year's broken collarbone during the Raiders' summer football class. He is the only one of last year's three quarterbacks returning. Since most of the incoming freshman players haven't started working out with the team, Azimi's competition for the position should be better assessed when regular practices start the first week of August.

Goodbye to the bye: Bittner has been a strong critic of the first-week byes his teams have received the past few years. He felt the Raiders were at a disadvantage when they started the season against teams that had already had a game's worth of experience. A 26-9 loss to Ventura in last year's opener was Moorpark's only loss of the regular season. This year, each of the conference's teams have the same week off.

Coaching changes: Jeff Martin was hired to replace Davis Banuelos as offensive-line coach after Banuelos took over as head coach at Pierce. Martin is a 1999 graduate of California, where he played football and was a coaches' assistant.

Marcus Turner is also a new addition to the Raiders staff. He was hired as a defensive-backs coach. Turner played in the NFL for the Phoenix Cardinals from 1989-1991 and with the New York Jets from 1992-1995. He was an assistant at Camarillo before being the head junior-varsity coach at Oxnard High in 1998.

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PHOTO (Color) Moorpark quarterback Farhaad Azimi, who was injured last season, looks forward to the chance of regaining his position.

Tom Mendoza/Daily News