BC, Hancock set for rematch in Golden Empire Bowl
| Sunday, Nov 15 2009 10:47 PM
Last Updated Sunday, Nov 15 2009 10:53 PM
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John Harte / Special to The Californian Bakersfield's Cameron Shelton (55) and Yul Hawkins (18) close in on Hancock runner Edward Morrow on this first-half run in Santa Maria Saturday. CQ
BC gets a rematch against Allan Hancock College in Saturday's Golden Empire Bowl, which begins at 3 p.m. in Memorial Stadium.
The Renegades are the No. 4 seed in the eight-team Southern California playoffs. The Southern California Football Association determined playoff participants, seeding and first-round matchups.
The Renegades and Hancock are both 9-1 overall, with BC handing Hancock its only loss, a 31-24 decision in Santa Maria on Oct. 10 when the Bulldogs threw an incomplete pass into the end zone from the BC 2-yard line with two seconds left in the game on a fourth-and-goal play. BC had a 24-3 lead at one point that day.
The only Renegades' loss was 40-24 to El Camino on Sept. 26. El Camino (8-2) was knocked out of the playoffs when it lost to Cerritos in its regular-season finale on Saturday.
The BC-Hancock winner will likely face top-seeded Mount San Antonio College (9-1), which faces eighth-seeded Los Angeles Pierce (7-3) in another first-round game.
Other playoff matchups are No. 2 seed Fullerton hosting No. 7 seed Los Angeles Harbor in a battle of 9-1 teams; and third-seeded Cerritos (9-1) hosting sixth-seeded Palomar (8-2).
BC ensured itself of having the Golden Empire Bowl serve as a first-round playoff game by beating College of the Canyons 24-9 on Saturday in BC's regular-season finale. The Renegades went 6-0 in the National Northern Conference.
The Renegades finished fourth in the final SCFA football poll of the season, moving up one spot from last week's poll. The top three teams were unchanged: No. 1 Mount SAC, No. 2 Fullerton and No. 3 Cerritos.
El Camino fell from fourth to No. 7 but was eliminated from playoff contention by placing third in the National Central Conference. Only two teams from each of the three National Conferences earn playoff spots. The other two are guaranteed to the two American Conference winners --Harbor and Pierce this season.
Mount SAC got the top seed because of some key wins: 42-26 over El Camino on Oct. 31 and 27-26 in overtime to then-No. 1-ranked Cerritos on Nov. 7.
