County Teams Hope Second Half Better Than First

Today’s Mission Conference football games mark the halfway point in the season for Orange County’s teams and it has been a half to forget for four of the five community colleges.

Orange Coast is 2-2 and the one bright spot. Fullerton, Golden West, Saddleback and Santa Ana are a combined 1-15 and all face difficult games today.

But there is good news in the distance. All Mission Conference teams have a bye on Oct. 17 and then the Central Division teams play each other after that.

In today’s games:

Cerritos (3-1) at Saddleback (0-4), 7 p.m.--Saddleback is off to its worst start in school history and is last in the 12-team conference in total offense.

Golden West (0-4) at Mt. San Antonio (3-1), 1 p.m.--The Rustlers’ Paul Tessier set a school record with 14 receptions in a 33-21 loss to Pasadena last week. He is second in the conference with 27 catches. There have been no records for the ground game; Golden West is averaging 29 yards a game rushing.

Long Beach (4-0) vs. Santa Ana (0-4), Santa Ana Stadium, 1 p.m.--Long Beach is No. 1 in the J.C. Grid-Wire national rankings. Santa Ana’s Camron King didn’t play in the first game but has gained 364 yards in the last three.

Pasadena (2-2) vs. Fullerton (1-3), CS Fullerton, 1 p.m.--Fullerton opened with a victory over Orange Coast but has since lost three in a row.

Riverside (1-3) at Orange Coast (2-2), 7 p.m.--Orange Coast’s depth at wide receiver was reduced last week when David Castleton suffered a broken collarbone in a loss to Palomar. Ivan Mercer leads OCC in receiving with 18 catches for 251 yards.