CSM and Riverside City set for rematch in 3C2A Football Championship

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RIVERSIDE - For the third time in four seasons of competition, College of San Mateo and Riverside City College are meeting for the 3C2A state football championship, Saturday afternoon (Dec. 9). RCC will host the 2023 title showdown at Wheelock Stadium, with a 1:05 p.m. start (including livestream).

No. 4 south seed Riverside (11-1) of the South League defeated previously unbeaten Mt. San Antonio College and No. 3 Ventura College on the road to reach the 2023 finals. No. 1 north San Mateo (11-1), the Bay 6 League champion, won at home against No. 4  Modesto JC and No. 2 American River College. 

SOME CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY:
It is a fourth straight time for Riverside in the championship game. The Tigers won over San Mateo in 2019 and lost to City College of San Francisco in 2021. (The 2021 season was cancelled due to COVID.) San Mateo is the defending champion, having won, 55-0, in the 2022 game held at San Mateo. This is the first time the championship game is being played at Riverside.

This is CSM's eighth consecutive appearance in the state playoffs and second straight year in the finals.

San Mateo first played in – and hosted – the 2009 CCCAA championship game at College Heights Stadium. Mt. San Antonio eked out a 7-6 victory, in the rain. CSM lost on the field at Fullerton in the 2017 finale, 16-12, a game later declared no contest due to eligibility issues with the Hornets. Riverside won the 2019 championship game with the Bulldogs in Sacramento, 31-14.

Saturday's game will match the state's top two National Division quarterbacks, the only players to throw for more than 3,000 yards this season. Riverside's Jordan Barton, the South League offensive player of the year, has 3,789 yards (258 of 357, 72.3 percent) with 35 touchdowns and a collegiate efficiency rating of 189.3. San Mateo's redshirt freshman Anthony Grigsby, the Bay 6 offensive player of the year, has 3,291 yards (205 of 314, 65.3 percent) with 33 TDs and a 181.6 rating.

Both teams can run the ball. Tigers RB Brice Strong averages 97.8 yards per game and has scored 15 TDs. He carried 24 times for 158 yards in the SoCal final at Ventura. RCC had a second player run for more than 100 yards against the Pirates, Ayinde Bankole, with 103 on 15 carries – and three touchdowns. He averages 66.3 yards per game. Strong, an all-purpose star, also has 386 yards receiving and 204 on kickoff returns, averaging 146.9 all-purpose yards.

Nate Sanchez leads San Mateo rushers with a 61.2 yard average as an all-Bay 6 star. Including pass receiving and returns, he averages 93.3 yards per game. Perhaps most versatile for CSM is Anthony Freeman, with 658 yards on 39 pass receptions, more than 600 yards on returns, and a 106.5 all-purpose pace per game. San Mateo's leading receiver is Jeremiah Patterson, with 52 receptions for 758 yards and 11 TDs.

Riverside has a trio of top pass catchers. Norion Espadron and Jacqueze Modica each have 43 receptions for more than 700 yards. All South league Jessie Campbell has 37 catches for 599 yards and nine TDs.

San Mateo's defense, which has limited foes to 251 yards per game (80.8 rushing) and just 17.9 points per game, is led by Bay 6 defensive player of the year DB Ja'ir Smith. The Riverside defense is anchored by unanimous All-South League DE Esaia Bogar (6-3, 225). The Tigers have allowed 314.4 yards and 18.9 points per game.

Recent 3C2A State champ series recap:
2022 (at San Mateo): College of San Mateo 55, Riverside City College 0
2021 (at Mt. San Antonio College): City College of San Francisco 22, Riverside City College 19
2020 (Covid cancelled)
2019 (at Bakersfield): Riverside City College 31, College of San Mateo 14.

COMPUTERS & SCOUTING SERVICES PUT SAN MATEO NO. 1 IN USA ENTERING FINALE:
Both the high respected Massey computer ratings and the JC Gridiron scouting service have College of San Mateo No. 1 this week in their ratings of all 121 JC/CC football teams in the USA. JC Gridiron has Riverside is No. 3, with Iowa Western (11-1) of the National JC Athletic Association in the No. 2 spot.