Gauchos garner top-10 preseason ranking
The Saddleback football program is working towards the 2019 campaign and received a bit of good news this past week. The Gauchos open the 2019 campaign ranked No. 9 in the country, according to JCGridiron.com.
JCGridiron.com is in its 15th year of creating national rankings and is the only organization that includes both the CCCAA and the NJCAA programs in its rankings. Saddleback is one of 15 California programs ranked in the top 30.
Saddleback finished the 2018 campaign with an electric 34-31 win over Bakersfield College in the Patriotic Bowl. Bakersfield opens the 2019 campaign at No. 29 in the Dirty 30 Rankings.
Other programs from the California ranks included in the JCGridiron.com Dirty 30 Rankings include; Riverside City (3), American River (5), San Francisco (12), Laney (14), Ventura (15), Cerritos (18), San Mateo (20), Fresno City (22), Butte (24), Modesto (25), Canyons (26), Fullerton (27), Mt. San Antonio (28) and Bakersfield (29).
Saddleback opens the 2019 season on the road at College of the Canyons on September 7 at 6:00 PM. The Cougars open the season at No. 26 in the rankings and finished the 2018 campaign ranked No. 11 by JCGridiron.com. Canyons defeated Saddleback, 19-6, on opening day last fall. The Cougars lead the lifetime series between the two programs, 5-4.