JCGridiron.com - Top of the Dirty 30 rankings is loaded

September 10, 2012

Brad Hoiseth
JCGridiron.com Publisher

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The 2012 season is shaping up to be a good one, as many teams look like national title contenders in the early part of the season. Mt. San Antonio re-established themselves as the team to beat, but as many as 8-10 others are an eyelash away.

Staying on top is going to be a tough task in 2012, and Arizona Western College found out that not playing can be a huge risk. The Matadors dropped all the way to No. 5 as a result of an early bye, and now have some catching up to do. They will look to get things rolling at Pima College this Saturday.

Mt. San Antonio regained the top spot in the rankings with a convincing 34-14 win over a solid Bakersfield team. After falling behind 7-0 in the opening frame, the Mounties found their way, scoring 27 straight points and rushing for 320 yards on the day. Mt. SAC gets yet another tough opponent this weekend when they travel to No. 32 Cerritos, who upset previous No. 8 Fullerton 47-30 on Saturday.

East Mississippi kept rolling along on Thursday night as they ran past East Central 51-7 to improve to 2-0. The Lions outgained East Central 573-182 in the win, and now visit Southwest Mississippi on Thursday looking to extend their winning streak to 15.

Iowa Western climbed two more spots to No. 3 in the rankings after a second big win on the road at Trinity Valley (44-20). The Reivers have traveled a ton in the past two weeks, playing in Colorado and Texas on consecutive weekends. Iowa Western jumped out to a 24-0 lead midway through the second quarter, taking advantage of five turnovers on the afternoon. The Reivers now host College of DuPage on Saturday.

Butler County remained at No. 4 by dismantling Fort Scott, 60-14. The Grizzlies got off to a slow start but regrouped and scored 53 straight points over the final 3.5 quarters of the game. Butler outgained Ft. Scott 545-292 on the afternoon, and now have a trip to Independence this weekend.

Another in the mix is San Francisco, who stifled Laney 38-7 to improve to 2-0 on the season. The Rams had a scare on opening day but bounced back nicely in week two, and should get an easy victory this weekend when they host West Hills.

A big showdown looms in the Mississippi ranks this Thursday as No. 7 Hinds travels to No. 8 Mississippi Gulf Coast. Hinds steamrolled past Coahoma this past weekend (41-13) while Gulf Coast made a mess of Holmes (46-12). Whoever comes out on top this weekend could see a rise in the rankings at this time next week.

Newcomers to the rankings this week include Los Angeles Harbor (#20), Georgia Military (#26), Allan Hancock (#27), Santa Rosa (#29) and ASA (#30).

In addition, a big shout-out is in order for Cerritos College Sports Information Director John Van Gaston. The Falcon SID will be in attendance of his 300th straight Cerritos football game this Saturday when the Falcons host top-ranked Mt. San Antonio. Van Gaston is in his 27th season of covering Falcon football, and was recognized as the California Community College Sports Information Association Brass Top Award recipient in 2009. As a guy that has spent a lot of time around JVG over the years, you will not meet a guy with more energy and passion for his craft.

Premier games this weekend

California:
No. 1 Mt. San Antonio at No. 32 Cerritos
No. 16 Riverside at No. 12 Saddleback
No. 13 Ventura at No. 20 Los Angeles Harbor
No. 21 San Joaquin Delta at No. 40 Feather River
No. 38 Fullerton at No. 36 Bakersfield

NJCAA:
No. 7 Hinds at No. 8 Gulf Coast
No. 26 Georgia Military at No. 23 Dean
No. 37 Eastern Arizona at No. 34 Scottsdale

To view the entire rankings and results from this past weekend, click on the appropriate link in the above grey box.

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