With the 2019 season nearing the halfway point, the field of teams with a chance at winning the national title is still wide open. Riverside City College remains at No. 1 for the time being, with a huge Jayhawk Conference game looming this week in Kansas.
Riverside improved to 3-0 out west after outscoring San Bernardino Valley College, 58-37. The Tigers again put up big numbers on offense, totaling 582 yards. Tyler Kennedy had five catches for 132 yards and three scores in the win. Riverside now gets Long Beach City, who comes in at No. 36 in the rankings.
The big game this week will take place in Kansas where No. 3 Hutchinson hosts No. 2 Butler. Hutch got a big advantage this week when they had a bye to prepare, and with home-field advantage it sets up for an interesting matchup. Butler cruised to a 31-10 win against Dodge City on Saturday to start 5-0. Hutchinson has already beaten three ranked teams in Independence, Iowa Western and Fort Scott.
Two undefeated teams remain in the Mississippi ranks with No. 5 Northwest and No. 8 Gulf Coast. Both are 4-0 after Northwest slipped past Copiah-Lincoln (19-15) and Gulf Coast did the same against Jones (20-14). Northwest will travel to No. 42 Holmes this Thursday while Gulf Coast travels to No. 17 Copiah-Lincoln.
College of San Mateo made a statement on Saturday in the Northern California ranks, blasting previous top-10 American River 42-10. The Bulldogs are now 3-0 for the year and moved up eight spots to No. 6 with the win. San Mateo gets a second straight test as they travel to No. 13 Fresno City this Saturday. FCC moved up eight spots to after beating previous top-15 Butte, 13-10.
In another huge matchup up north, Modesto rallied for a late touchdown to clip City College of San Francisco, 23-20. The Pirates moved up eight spots to No. 10 in the rankings and have beaten three ranked teams to get to 3-0. Danny Velasquez had another sensational performance, passing for 191 yards and two scores while rushing 159 yards. Modesto now gets a fourth straight test to start the season when they travel to No. 23 American River, who would love to bounce back from a humbling loss.
The Southwest JCFC is topsy turvy for a second straight season as every team has at least one loss. No. 12 Blinn tops the ranked teams after turning back Trinity Valley in a defensive battle, 10-3. Trinity Valley comes in this week at No. 14 while Kilgore is No. 20 and Navarro No. 29.
BIG MATCHUPS THIS WEEKEND:
No. 36 Long Beach City at No. 1 Riverside City
No. 2 Butler at No. 3 Hutchinson
No. 4 Northwest at No. 42 Holmes
No. 6 San Mateo at No. 13 Fresno City
No. 8 Gulf Coast at No. 17 Copiah-Lincoln (Thursday)
No. 37 East Central at No. 9 East Mississippi (Thursday)
No. 10 Modesto at No. 23 American River
No. 11 Cerritos at No. 28 Canyons
No. 38 Cisco at No. 14 Trinity Valley
No. 18 Butte at No. 16 San Francisco
No. 27 Fort Scott at No. 25 Garden City
No. 47 Northeastern Oklahoma A&M at No. 29 Navarro
The rest of the JCGridiron.com Dirty 30 Rankings follow. Just a reminder, JCGridiron.com does not include games against prep schools, club teams, or non-affiliated programs in the records.
