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Community College 2004 Season-in-Review

Griffins reap all-conference football honors

By Phillip Brents

Posted Jan. 2, 2005

Grossmont College reaped its share of honors on this year’s All-Foothill Conference football team. Defensive lineman Dallas Mauga was named the conference’s Defensive Most Valuable Player while Griffins’ coach Dave Jordan earned recognition as the conference’s Coach of the Year.

Grossmont, which finished 10-0 in regular season play, 8-0-0 in conference games, to win the nine-team conference championship title, placed four players on the First Team Defense and three players on the First Team Offense.

First Team Defense selections included sophomore defensive back John Guice, sophomore defensive lineman Andrew Jilles, sophomore inside linebacker Evan Hermanson and sophomore outside linebacker Ernesto Gradillas.

First Team Offense selections included sophomore offensive lineman Sam Downs, sophomore wide receiver Jason Factuar and freshman place-kicker Dan Zeidman.

Additionally, the Griffins had five players selected to the Second Team Offense and one player named to the Second Team Defense.

Second Team Offense selections included sophomore quarterback Jarrod Jackson, sophomore running back Rajive Otah, sophomore offensive lineman Patrick Kapuniai, freshman offensive lineman C.J. Bryant and sophomore wide receiver Marques Clark.

Freshman defensive back Adam Cooper earned a spot on the Second Team Defense. Overall, 13 players earned selection to either the first or second all-conference teams.

The Griffins outscored their eight conference opponents 347-82. In 10 regular season games, Grossmont averaged 39.1 points per game on offense while allowing 9.5 points on defense. Both numbers were conference bests. The Griffins ranked first in the conference in rushing yards (229.5 per game) and in total offensive yards (481.5 per game). Defensively, Grossmont ranked second in rushing defense (80.0 yards per game), third in passing defense (159.3 yards per game) and first in overall defense (239.3 yards per game).

On an individual basis, Otah ranked fifth in the conference with 1,044 rushing yards and totaled 16 touchdowns (second in the conference) while Jackson ranked second in the conference with 1,459 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Factuar ranked third in the conference with 790 receiving yards and four touchdowns while Clark was sixth with 472 yards and three scores. Zeidman led the conference in kick scoring with 48 point-after-touchdown conversions (out of 50 attempts) and seven field goals. Defensively, Guice led the conference with seven interceptions, returning one for a touchdown.

Also for Grossmont, Dupree Flenoid tacked on 391 rushing yards and two touchdowns while freshman teammate Jarzelle Beeks added 193 yards and three scores. Freshman Reilly Murphy passed for 871 yards and seven touchdowns while freshman Richard Nelson had 25 catches for 335 yards and five touchdowns. Freshman Brian Anderson ranked third in the conference in punting average (40.7 yards per punt) while sophomore Quinten Womack ranked fourth in the conference in punt returns (16.9 yards per return).

The Griffins, ranked second in the state, topped third-seeded Chaffey by a score of 26-7 in the Verizon Bowl Nov. 20 at Chaffey College. Grossmont exploded for 20 second-quarter points and added six more in the third quarter before conceding one touchdown to the Panthers (9-2) in the final quarter.

The Griffins, who improved to 11-0 with the victory, received touchdowns from four players in the game. Devon St. James opened scoring in the contest with a 12-yard pass from Jackson while Jackson scored Grossmont's second touchdown of the game on a 15-yard run. Jackson (16-of-32, 216 yards) had a hand in his third touchdown of the matchup when he passed 19 yards to Factuar (four catches, 68 yards). Roderick Cooksey (five rushes, 24 yards) closed out scoring in the game for the Griffins on a one-yard run. Zeidman had two PAT conversions.

Otah rushed for 93 yards while also making three pass receptions for 45 yards. Flenoid had 44 rushing yards while Nelson had 34 receiving yards. Michael Omar had two catches for 33 yards. The teams combined for 799 total offensive yards, with Chaffey outgaining Grossmont 411-388.

The Griffins concluded their season of plenty with an 11-1 record following a loss to undefeated College of the Canyons in the state championship game on Nov. 28 in Valencia.

Postseason signings

Jackson and Guice joined four former Griffins at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas by signing with the Runnin' Rebels following hte conclusion of the 2004 community college season. Jackson ended his career at Grossmont with 4,671 passing yards and 36 touchdowns, compiling 20 wins the past two seasons as the team's starting signal-caller. The duo joins former Griffins Dan Widders (defensive end), Bobby Kelly (linebacker), Chanti Bloomer (cornerback) and Dan Catalano (linebacker), all of whom signed with UNLV the previous season.

Foothill Conference standings

Grossmont 8-0-0 (10-0-0); Chaffey 7-1-0 (9-1-0); San Diego Mesa 5-3-0 (6-4-0); College of the Desert 5-3-0 (6-4-0); Mt. San Jacinto 4-4-0 (6-4-0); Victor Valley 2-6-0 (3-7-0); San Bernardino 2-6-0 (2-8-0); Southwestern 2-6-0 (2-8-0); Antelope Valley 1-7-0 (3-7-0).

Cross country

Southwestern’s banner season (in every sense of the word for the Pacific Coast Conference champion Jaguars) came to a thrilling close at the state championship meet Nov. 20 in Fresno as the women’s team ran to a sixth-place finish and the men’s team placed eighth. Babey Wagnew (Helix) finished second among individuals with a time of 20:11.5 for four miles. He finished just a half second behind the winner from Orange Coast College. Yafet Abraha placed 24^th overall with a time of 21:09 as Southwestern’s second individual scorer. Carlos Landeros (45^th, 21:26) and Edgar Llanez (75^th, 21:42) were third and fourth, respectively, for the Jaguars.

Yenissa Kaeg (Montgomery) was the top individual finisher for the SWC women’s team, placing 19^th in 19:35 for five kilometers. Following for Southwestern were Ashley Bolden (26^th, 19:35), Celine Reyes (29^th, 19:37), Priscilla Flores (83^rd, 20:30), Rocio Santiago (86^th, 20:31), Brenda Bravo (103^rd, 20:47) and Adriana Navarro (137^th, 21:40).

Among other PCC teams, Cuyamaca finished 14^th in the men’s standings while San Diego Mesa was 18^th in the women’s standings.

Southwestern’s women’s team placed third and the Jaguar men’s team finished fourth at the Southern California regionals on Nov. 6 at Cuesta College. Wagnew placed second in the men’s race while Celine Reyes was 12^th in the women’s race as the respective top finishers for SWC.

Wagnew timed 22:35 for 4.2 miles, placing runner-up by eight seconds to Orange Coast College’s Kellen Acosta. Abraha finished 15^th in 23:33, followed by Carlos Landeros (41^st, 24:23), Llanez (73^rd, 25:03), Roman Baltazar (113^th, 26:06) and Edgar Torres (129^th, 26:39).

Reyes led fellow Jaguars Bolden (19^th, 17:35), Kaeg 920^th, 17:37), Bravo (52^nd, 18:35), Flores (55^th, 18:39), Santiago (68^th, 18:53) and Navarro (86^th, 19:07) across the finish line in the 2.8-mile race.

The top 12 teams at regionals advanced to the state finals. In the men’s race, Cuyamaca was ninth, followed by San Diego Mesa (18^th) and Palomar (23^rd. In the women’s race, San Diego Mesa finished 12^th while Cuyamaca was 17^th. Palomar, Grossmont and San Diego City did not score.

Cuyamaca men’s team finished 14th at the 2004 state championship meet. Top finishers on the four-mile course included David Mosier (46th, 21:27), Carmen Martinez (64th, 21:36) and Jesus Gomez (76th, 21:42). Zach Norcross, a former standout at Monte Vista High School, finished 117th in 22:10 for Cuyamaca.

Former Helix standout Evon Willingham finished 95th in the women’s finals while representing San Diego Mesa College. She timed 20:40 for 3.1 miles.

The top 12 teams at the Southern California regionals Nov. 6 at Cuesta College qualified for the state championship meet. Cuyamaca placed ninth behind Pacific Coast Conference champion Southwestern (fourth) and ahead of fellow PCC members San Diego Mesa (18th) and Palomar (23rd).

Gomez (23rd, 23:58) and Moiser (30th, 24:08) led Cuyamaca at the regional meet. Martinez finished in 65th place, followed by teammates Norcross (80th), Matt Renaud (87th) and Rob Hernandez (106th).

Dora Sanders paced Cuyamaca (17th place) in the women’s race, finishing 58th in 18:43 for 2.8 miles. Following her lead were teammates Ashley Branks (67th, 18:52), Yeleny Torres (76th, 18:58), Nicle Nicastro (84th, 19:05), Heather Peel (153rd, 21;38), Shann Stevenson (178th, 24:38) and Brenna Giblin (179th, 24:42).

Willingham finished 114th in 19:53 for San Diego Mesa (12th place).

Water polo

Grossmont College’s men’s and women’s water polo teams swept to 2004 Pacific Coast Conference championship titles in competition Nov. 5-6 at the Joan Kroc Center. In men’s action, the Griffins defeated San Diego Mesa 15-6 while Grossmont prevailed 6-4 against Palomar in the women’s game.

Scott Turton paced the Griffins in the men’s title contest by scoring six goals. Grossmont finished the season 10-0 in conference, 18-8 overall. It was the fourth consecutive undefeated season for Grossmont in conference competition.

In the third place men’s game, Palomar defeated Southwestern by a 10-8 score. San Diego Mesa topped Southwestern 15-6 to capture third place in the women’s bracket.