City College of San Francisco rules final coaches poll; All-America and All-State teams announced
SAN MATEO – City College of San Francisco, finishing with the nation’s best community college football record (13-0) in 2021, heads the final JC Athletic Bureau state poll after winning its eighth official California Community College Athletic Association football championship, 22-19, over defending champion Riverside City College (10-3) in the title game (Dec. 11) at Mt. San Antonio College’s Hilmer Lodge Stadium.
By agreement with the California Community College Football Coaches Association, the two CCCAA finalists earn the top two poll positions – in their order of finish. Northern California Football Conference runner-up College of San Mateo took the number three position, with 228 points, ten ahead of Southern California Football Association finalist Golden West (11-1). CSM lost only to CCSF (twice). Riverside gave Golden West and No. 5 Ventura their only setbacks.
The CCCAA, which has the vast majority of the USA’s 2-year college football teams -- 65 in 2021 vs. 54 in the NJCAA – crowns a “National” division champion and two regional “American” champs. Latter winners were No. 22 Feather River (second-best record in the USA at 10-0), 34-16 over Monterey Peninsula, and Mt. San Jacinto (9-2), 17-6 over Antelope Valley.
CCCAA TITLE GAME WRAP: Devan Walker caught a 28-yard pass from Jack Newman with 9:21 remaining to give CCSF the winning touchdown and a 22-19 victory over reigning champion Riverside CC in the 2021 CCCAA title game. CCSF intercepted opponent passes to end potential game-winning drives and win a third “title” in the past month -- including taking both the Bay 6 league and Northern California championships from defending champion College of San Mateo in a similar fashion.
D’Andre Greeley had his state-leading tenth interception of the year of the year -- on his own three with 1:58 remaining -- to ensure the trophy. CCSF ran out the clock to end it. His ninth theft had stopped San Mateo in the NorCal finals the previous week.
Before CCSF drove for the winning points, Riverside (10-3) had apparently taken control. The Tigers recovered a fumbled punt return on the CCSF 5-yard line and punched in the go-ahead TD on two runs by Thomas Kinslow -- for a 19-14 lead with 12:14 left in the game.
But the Rams came right back, driving 66 yards on six plays for the clincher, engineered by Walker and Newman. Walker, a 5-9, 180-pound running back, was the offensive player of the game, leading all rushers with 91 yards (17 carries) and a rushing TD – plus the winning TD reception. Newman (6-1, 190), the game MVP, completed 17 of 30 passes for 224 yards and two scores. The All-America offensive player of the year QB also had a 2-point conversion pass (to Roderick Gaskins, Jr.) on the final TD to increase the margin from one to a critical three points. The game had a national cable TV audience on Next Level Sports (including ATT U-verse and DirecTV).
JC ATHLETIC BUREAU COACHES FOOTBALL POLL (Final) | ||||
Rk. | School | Record | Points | PR |
1. | City College of San Francisco | 13-0 | 250 | 1 |
2. | Riverside City | 10-3 | 240 | 5 |
3. | College of San Mateo | 10-2 | 228 | 4 |
4. | Golden West | 11-1 | 218 | 3 |
5. | Ventura | 10-1 | 213 | 2 |
6. | College of the Canyons | 7-3 | 195 | 6 |
7. | Fresno City | 8-3 | 189 | 7 |
8. | Modesto | 8-3 | 168 | 8 |
9. | American River | 6-5 | 167 | 9 |
10. | Butte | 7-4 | 159 | 10 |
11. | Mt. San Antonio | 8-3 | 157 | 17 |
12. | Reedley | 7-4 | 122 | 11 |
13. | El Camino | 7-4 | 120 | 18 |
14. | Palomar | 6-5 | 103 | 16 |
15. | Diablo Valley | 6-5 | 100 | 14 |
16. | Fullerton | 6-5 | 97 | 12 |
17. | San Diego Mesa | 7-4 | 87 | 15 |
18. | Cerritos | 6-5 | 86 | T-24 |
19. | Laney | 6-5 | 70 | T-24 |
20. | Sierra | 6-5 | 55 | 20 |
21. | College of the Sequoias | 6-4 | 48 | NR |
22. | Feather River | 10-0 | 42 | 19 |
23. | Contra Costa | 9-1 | 28 | 23 |
24. | Pasadena City | 9-2 | 25 | T-24 |
25. | East Los Angeles | 5-6 | 22 | T-21 |
Others: Mt. San Jacinto 20, Allan Hancock 19, Merced 6, Monterey | ||||
Peninsula 5, Citrus 4, Foothill 3, Shasta 3, Santa Barbara City 2, | ||||
Antelope Valley 1, Long Beach City 1, Santa Rosa 1. |