By Peter Gibbs

That was a disaster.

The Riverside City College football team lost to the College of San Mateo 55-0 in the state championship Dec. 10.

Rain played a major factor in the first half and immediately threw RCC off its gameplan.

The opening kickoff saw San Mateo return the ball 61 yards while multiple Tigers couldn’t find their footing in the soggy turf.

Three plays later, the Bulldogs scored on a 33-yard touchdown.

Throughout the season, when the defense slipped the offense stepped in. But this was not one of those days.

Due to the weather, the Tigers had to run the ball but were unable to win the battle at the line of scrimmage.

Still, San Mateo controlled the game on both sides of the ball.

Any time the offense tried to respond by passing, quarterback Jake Retzlaff either underthrew the ball or threw an inaccurate pass because the ball was too wet to grip.

On multiple occasions RCC players fumbled the ball without getting touched.

“It just wasn’t our day. It was an unusual situation,” head coach Tom Craft said. “I have to give all the credit to San Mateo.”

RCC ends the season 12-1.