American River College remained firm at No. 3 in the California Community College Coach's Association football rankings as compiled by Fred Baer of the JC Athletic Bureau heading into Saturday's showdown with defending state and national champion City College of San Francisco.
ARC slipped a spot to No. 5 in the state poll despite beating Santa Rosa 42-28 in a thriller. Ventura inched up a spot to No. 4 after beating Bakersfield 30-24 in four overtimes.
San Francisco, top ranked in NorCal and the state, trailed at Fresno City 28-0 in the first quarter, overcame six turnovers and drove 97 yards in the final moment to win 35-31 on a late Andrew Spivey-to-Drake Whitehurst touchdown pass.
On Saturday at ARC at 1 p.m., a winning streak will crash.
ARC has won a national-leading 22 consecutive games and is 25-1 over three seasons, last losing in overtime to Sierra in 2010.
San Francisco is 27-1 in the last three seasons and has set a national JC standard of excellence under coach George Rush with six state championships since 1999 and seven total since '94. What's more, the Rams have seven national crowns or national No. 1 finishes since 1994.
With a 301-86-4 record, Rush is the winningest coach in national JC football history.
ARC under coach Jerry Haflich and All-American tailback candidate Devontae Booker is hosting the biggest game in program history, knowing a triumph of the Rams of the Bay Area puts them on a fast track to the state-title game.
State Top 25
1. San Francisco 4-0
2. Mt. San Antonio 4-0
3. Butte 4-0
4. Ventura 4-0
5. American River 4-0
6. San Mateo 4-0
8. Sequoias 4-0
9. Fresno 3-1
10. Delta 3-1
11. Hancock 3-1
12. Modesto 3-1
13. Grossmont 3-1
14. Citrus 3-1
15. Mt. San Jacinto 4-0
16. Citrus 3-1
17. Orange Coast 3-1
18. LA Harbor 2-2.
19. De Anza 3-1
20. Bakersfield 2-2
21. Palomar 2-2
22. Siskiyous 3-1
23. Saddleback 1-2
24. Cerritos 1-2
25. Golden West 2-2.
Others included: Antelope Valley (3-0), Santa Rosa (2-2), East LA (3-1), Diablo Valley (1-3), Southwestern (3-1), Fullerton (2-2), El Camino (2-2),
Sacramento (2-2).
NorCal Top 20
1. San Francisco 4-0
2. Butte 4-0
3. American River 4-0
4. San Mateo 4-0
5. Sequoias 4-0
6. Fresno 3-1
7. Delta 3-1
8. Modesto 3-1
9. Foothill 3-1
10. De Anza 3-1
11. Siskiyous 3-1
12. Santa Rosa 2-2
13. Diablo Valley 1-3
14. Sacramento 2-2
15. Merced 2-2
16. Hartnell 2-2
17. Feather River 1-3
18. Contra Costa 2-2
19. Chabot 0-4
20. West Hills 1-3
Others included: Laney (0-3), Sierra (1-3), Redwoods (2-2).
- Joe Davidson
- On Twitter: @SacBee_Joe D
- On Facebook: sacbeepreps
- On podcasts: ESPN1320.net
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