Pierce Has Dominated, but Moorpark Is Hungry

Over the years, the Moorpark College football team has been somewhat inconsistent. The only constant was the Raiders’ knack for losing to Pierce. They did it well and they did it often.

Put it this way: In 10 years, Moorpark has beaten Pierce exactly the same number of times as jockey Bill Shoemaker has slam-dunked a basketball.

The latest chapter in the tradition was written this season as Moorpark squandered a 28-24 lead with less than four minutes left and lost to the Brahmas, 31-28, on Sept. 28.

Moorpark gets another crack at Pierce tonight at 7 p.m. in Shepard Stadium in the inaugural Brahma Bowl.

But breaking Pierce’s dominance will not be easy.

After losing two of its first three games, Pierce finished the regular season with a seven-game win streak. The Brahmas (8-2, ranked 12th in the state by the Junior College Athletic Bureau) have also won 15 straight at Shepard Stadium. They have not lost there since 1982.

Pierce is making its third consecutive postseason bowl appearance. Moorpark (8-2, ranked 13th) will be playing in the first bowl game of the program’s 18-year history.

“I’m used to packing in the gear around this time of year,” Moorpark Coach Jim Bittner said two weeks ago. “I think I’ll have to call some other coaches and ask them how to prepare for a bowl game.”

Although most of the factors point toward Pierce extending its streak to 11, Brahma Coach Jim Fenwick isn’t pleased with the selection of Moorpark as his opposition.

“No, I don’t like it a bit,” he said. “We don’t have anything to win or gain by beating them. We already beat them once. It’s really tough to beat a team twice in the same season. Everything looks toward them coming out and beating us and smelling like a rose. But it is the first Brahma Bowl and we are excited about being in it.”

The Raiders, who won a share of the Western State Conference championship for the first time since 1970, have been waiting for this day since Sept. 28, when a 75-yard touchdown pass from Steve Haddad to Greg Eskridge with 3:36 left in the game gave Pierce the victory.

After the game, Bittner said: “I thought we played pretty well, but Pierce just played better.”

But the pain hasn’t worn off for the coach and his Raiders in the past nine weeks, and Bittner’s attitude has changed.

“Our players really thought they should have beat Pierce,” Bittner said.

The match-up features two of the best offenses in the state. Pierce finished the regular season as champion of the Southern California Conference for the third straight year. The Brahmas’ offense is ranked No. 6 in the state, having pounded opponents for an average of 406 yards per game. The Moorpark offense is ranked No. 9, averaging 396 yards per game.

Moorpark carries a five-game win streak into the contest.

And Bittner and Fenwick were rewarded for their outstanding coaching performances this season. Each was named coach of the year in their respective conferences.

Pierce features a balanced offensive attack with running back Tyrone Beaulieu and quarterback Josh Davis. Beaulieu led all area rushers with 843 yards this season. Davis has passed for 10 touchdowns and 1,119 yards.

Moorpark also features a good runner in Jim Bittner Jr., the coach’s son, and a talented quarterback, Ken Lutz. Bittner romped for 836 yards this season while Lutz, the WSC’s player of the year, passed for 17 touchdowns and 1,204 yards. Receiver Dan Russell, who caught 39 passes for 662 yards and 11 touchdowns, joined Lutz, his former teammate at Royal High in Simi Valley, on the JC All-America list this season. Both received honorable mention on the list, which was announced Friday.

The Brahmas beat Santa Barbara City College in the Lions’ Mission Bowl in 1983 and lost to Taft College in the Shrine Potato Bowl last season.