The Grossmont College and Southwestern College football teams ended thier respecitve seasons on a winning note after recording bowl game victories on Saturday.
The Grossmont Griffins hung on to defeat West Los Angeles, 21-20, in the Beach Bowl played in Culver City while the Southwestern College Jaguars hosted the Moorpark Raiders in the Coaches Fight Cancer Patriotic Bowl, winning 31-7.
Both local San Diego County teams finished with winning records: Southwestern at 8-3 and Grossmont at 7-4. Neither team met during regular season play.
“It’s surreal feeling,” said Southwestern sophomore defensive back Dylan Eads, a Christian High School alumnus. “We had only one win my first year here (1-9 in 2023) and two last year (2-8 in 2024). This year we finished 8-3 and ended the season with a win.”
The bowl game win avenged a 14-13 loss to West L.A. in conference play on Oct. 11.
Grossmont quarterback Melvin Spicer, a freshman from Bishop Gorman in Las Vegas, completed 14 of 19 passing attempts for 122 yards and one touchdown and tacked on 20 rushing yards and a five-yard scoring run.
Eastlake/Lincoln alumnus Ayden Billups rushed six times for 64 yards and scored on a 23-yard catch to get Grossmont on the scoreboard in the first quarter while El Cajon Valley alum Darick Dubose Jr. rushed for 106 yards and scored on a one-yard run in the third quarter.
Steele Canyon graduate Adrien Chargualaf led Grossmont defensively with 11 tackles while freshman Titus Toilolo (Madison) recorded six tackles, one sack and one fumble recovery.
Freshman kicker Tyler Haley, a West Hills grad, collected three kicking points in the contest and averaged 39.2 yards on five punts.
The Griffins powered out to a 21-7 lead in the game only to see the Wildcats bounce back with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to make the game close. West L.A. scored on a nine-yard run by Bryant Collins with 1:21 to play but Grossmont stopped the ensuing two-point conversion run attempt by Bryant to prevail by one point.
The Griffins won despite being out-gained 459-256 in total yards – 273-122 in passing yards and 186-134 in rushing yards.
Spicer finished the season with 2,938 passing yards and 26 touchdowns while leading the team with 10 rushing touchdowns. Billups, a sophomore, led the team’s receivers with 917 yards and eight touchdowns. Dubose, also a sophomore, keyed the Griffins with 567 rushing yards while scoring five touchdowns.
Chargualaf, a sophomore, led the team with 52 tackles.
Grossmont finished in fourth place in the American Pacific Conference standings with a 2-3 conference record behind Santa Monica (4-1, 8-3, San Bernardino Valley 4-1, 7-4) and West L.A. (3-2, 7-4).
Southwestern opened the season with a 6-0 record and climbed as high as No. 4 in the state rankings before injuries took their toll in the second half of the season to push the Jaguars down to a fourth-place finish in the National Southern Conference standings with a 4-3 conferecne record behind Saddleback (8-0, 9-1), El Camino (7-1, 8-2) and Riverside (5-2, 7-4).
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Brayten Silbor (Scottsdale, Ariz.) passed for one touchdown and rushed for two scores to lead the Jaguars’ offensive effort while SWC held the Raiders (6-5) in check with eight sacks and three interceptions.
Chula Vista High alum Franky Olmedo, a sophomore defensive end, led the defensive effort with four sacks while East County grads Josh Ferrara (Grossmont High) and Chance La Chappa (El Capitan High) each recorded picks while freshman defensive back Valentino Wedderburn II recorded a 48-yard pick-six.
A four-year varsity and two-time all-league selection, Ferrara set the Foothillers school record with 11 interceptions.
“It took me a while to adjust to this level, — it was a lot faster, a lot more physical,” said Ferrara, who led the Jags with six tackles. “But I was blessed enough to have coaches to get me through it all.”
