The Riverside City College football team reclaimed the National Southern Conference championship in its final home regular-season game Nov. 9.
The Tigers’ — ranked second in the state — historic season on offense continued in a top 10 matchup vs sixth-ranked San Diego Mesa as they hung 60 points on their opponent for the fifth straight game. While also maintaining their historic pace of 600 offensive yards per game – 608.9 yards per game – which has never been done in California junior college football history.
“The offense is going to break school records if we already haven’t,” Tigers head coach Tom Craft said. “We answered every time they (San Diego Mesa) would answer, and we took the momentum away and at the end, they kind of gave in.”
The Olympians (7-2) and Tigers (8-1) traded blows back and forth for the game’s first two and a half quarters. Midway through the 3rd quarter a string of miscues nearly flipped the game on its head as the Tigers, leading 34-20, missed an extra point, allowed a kickoff to be returned for a touchdown, and redshirt sophomore quarterback Brady Jones nearly turned the ball over on a fumble after a long gain rushing gain.
“Move to the next play,” Jones said. “It’s kind of hard not to be stuck on the last play but every play is new, so we just got to move to the next one.”.
RCC caught a break as the fumble was called back due to a hands-to-the-face penalty on San Diego Mesa. From that moment on, the Tiger’s relentless ferocity showed out as they would score on that drive and their final three drives of the game to win 62-41.
“That was a top three defense in the state that we just dismantled,” Tom Craft said.
Jones threw for 439 yards three touchdowns and added another touchdown on the ground. Jones has been red hot, throwing 28 touchdowns with no interceptions in his last five games. He set another school record for the fastest QB to 40 passing touchdowns in a season, surpassing current BYU standout Jake Reztlaff.
Jones attributed his success this season to getting to practice early, sitting in the meeting room with the coaches, and going over the little stuff and fundamentals.
“He’s improved on his decision-making, accuracy, and timing, since the start of the season,” offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kevin Craft said. “His understanding of our offense and what we’re trying to do here is impressive.”
The Tigers also showed a diverse game on the ground with five players sharing touches in the backfield. Sophomore running back Brandon McMasters led the team with four rushing touchdowns as he was the go-to man when the Tigers were in the red zone.
“He’s a hard runner, his weight and the way he plays behind his pads is why we get him down in there,” Kevin Craft said. “Their interior line is as good as anyone in the state, and they couldn’t stop him today.”
Wide Receivers Dominic Cox and Jackson Owens continued their stellar seasons as both wideouts tallied 100 receiving yards and Cox added a touchdown reception as well.
“In the first half, I was nervous, I don’t know why,” Cox said. “In the second half, I forgot all about it. They played a lot of man defense, and it’s easy if I’m faster than their guys to run fades and get in the middle of the field to be open.”
Riverside now gets a chance to defend its state championship as they have clinched their spot in the Southern California Football Association playoffs. They wrap up the regular season Nov. 16 on the road against Fullerton College.
“It’s a great feeling,” defensive lineman Esaia Bogar said. “We have a shot to get to the state championship again, so I look forward to it,”
– Sergio Contreras contributed to this article
“We’re not done, we’re not done,” Tom Craft emphasized to his team.
