Gauchos to take on Hornets in Homecoming matchup
Freshman receiver Lee Griggs (10) barrels over a Santa Ana defender on October 5, 2013. (Adam Kolvites)
The Saddleback College Gauchos will take on the No. 4-ranked Hornets in the annual Homecoming game on Saturday at 6 p.m.
The Hornets are coming off a huge win against the previously top-ranked Riverside College Tigers, are set to take a trip down south to take on the No. 27-ranked Gauchos, also coming off a huge win against the Ventura College Pirates.
After making a statement against the Pirates last week, the Gauchos come into the game very confident, barreling into the week behind the arm of top-ranked quarterback Tim Belman, who leads the Southern Conference in yards per game (381.2).
Belman hasn’t done this all by himself though, getting the much needed help from the likes of Dominick Ela, currently ranked as the top receiver in yards per game (127). Lee Griggs is a shifty 18-year-old out of Las Vegas and RJ Dedrick a sure-handed southerner from Alabama.
In past weeks, the Gauchos have gotten a knee-buckling offense to roll fast, putting up 73 points. After coming off a 465-yard game against Ventura, the Gauchos look to keep dropping bombs with their second-ranked passing attack, averaging a coverage changing 338.2 yards per game passing.
Saddleback has put up the third most amount of points in the Southern Conference (176), accumulated the most first downs (138), and also possess the No. 4 tackler Trevor Douglass, who’s amounted 39 tackles in his five games played.
As for the Hornets, they rely heavily upon the legs of their top two leading rushers in the state, Ryan Byrd (120.2 yards per game) and Lavorrie Johnson (102.2 yards per game). Also, the Hornets enter with the No. 3-ranked quarterback averaging a helpful 227.4 yards per game to accent that high-powered rushing attack.
Fullerton can link drives together as they trail Saddleback 1-2 in first downs (132) and offense showing many scheme-producing stats, the top of which is their second-ranked points per game (185).
The team to prevail this week will be the team with fewer turnovers and less penalties. My pick is the Gauchos by a score of 35-34.