Tremblay Bowl Kicks Off Saturday at La Playa Stadium

How would you like these guys on your fantasy football team?

—Ryan Nelson, a quarterback who has passed for 2,700 yards and 24 touchdowns with only six interceptions this season.

—George Bell, a wide receiver with 71 receptions for almost 1,200 yards and 13 TDs.

—Eldrin Jones, a quarterback who has passed for more than 1,500 yards and gained 500 yards rushing, with a combined total of 15 TDs.

—Robert Daniels, a running back who scored four TDs last weekend.

You can see those players in action Saturday evening (Nov. 22) at Santa Barbara City College’s La Playa Stadium. They will be participating in the first Tremblay Financial Services Bowl, a postseason game matching two of the highest ranked community college football teams in Southern California.

The Southwestern College Jaguars (7-3) of Chula Vista, with Bell and Jones leading a high-powered offense, will take on Jones, Daniels, and the Pasadena City College Lancers (6-4). Kickoff is at 6 p.m.

Both teams, averaging more than 33 points a game, have hungered to get to this bowl. Southwestern, ranked No. 11 in SoCal, won its first conference championship since 1988. “Wasn’t Ronald Reagan president then?” said Jaguars coach Ed Carberry.

Pasadena, ranked No. 12, has an illustrious history, with six national junior college championships, but the Lancers have not been to a bowl game in six years. They finished third in powerful National Northern Conference, losing two league games by three points (45-42 to Hancock and 42-41 to Canyons.). Against Canyons, the nation’s top-ranked community college team, the Lancers went for a winning two-point conversion in overtime and came up a yard short.

“I don’t regret the decision,” Pasadena coach James Kuk said. “You want to show confidence in your players, then they believe in you. You don’t want to send the wrong message by being timid in adverse situations.”

With their shared philosophy, both coaches will be going all out to win Saturday. “Going to a bowl game is like going to a restaurant,” Carberry said. “If you don’t eat dinner, it’s not satisfying.”

As an added attraction, the Kilgore College (Texas) Rangerettes, a well-traveled dancing troupe, will perform before the game and at halftime, as well as a fundraising event Friday night (6-10 p.m.) at the Cabrillo Arts Center. Proceeds from the Tremblay Bowl will benefit the Endowment for Youth Committee and SBCC athletics. Game tickets cost $8 for adults and $5 for youths.

The game will be broadcast live on AM 1290 radio, and Cox will show three taped telecasts of the game on Channel 8 – Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday at 1 p.m.

SBCC HONORS: City College placed three players on the All-American Pacific Conference first team. They are leading rusher Trayone Harris, a freshman from Los Angeles; and a pair of sophomore linebackers, Nate Goldie from Morgan Hill and Ken Dorset from San Jose. The Vaqueros (6-4) won their last six games after an 0-4 start and shared the conference title with Antelope Valley, but their No. 20 ranking left them out of the bowl mix.

STATE CHAMPS: SBCC won its second state women’s golf championship in three years Thursday with an all-freshman team. Asaka Sim’s 2-over-par 74 at Ventura’s Olivas Links GC led the Vaqueros on the second day, as they rallied from four strokes back to finish 15 shots ahead of runner-up Sacramento City.

BIG NIGHT AT THUNDERDOME: North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams intimated Thursday that national player of the year Tyler Hansbrough might make his season debut tonight when the No. 1-ranked Tar Heels face the UCSB Gauchos at the Thunderdome. Hansbrough, a 6’9″ forward, did not play against Kentucky earlier this week because of soreness in his right shin. Tonight’s game, sold out since Monday, will be telecast on the cable network ESPNU at 7 p.m.

THANKSGIVING SATURDAY: Admission will be free to Saturday’s NAIA Men’s National Soccer Championship first-round game between Westmont College and Holy Names at UCSB’s Harder Stadium. Game time is 7 p.m.

Westmont plans to honor the firefighters, officials, and volunteers who came to the aid of the school and the communities of Montecito and Santa Barbara during last week’s Tea Fire.

On the soccer pitch, the Warriors (10-6-2) will bring a six-game winning streak into the match, including a 2-0 upset of defending national champion Azusa Pacific in the Golden State Athletic Conference championship game. Holy Names, from the Bay Area, boasts a record of 14-3.

Westmont has two All-GSAC selections, junior defender Dillon Barna and sophomore midfielder Anthony Niboli.