Nankil leads Toreros to 30-27 OT victory over Southern Utah

Mater Dei Catholic alumnus Dominic Nankil had a star-studded freshman season at quarterback at the University of San Diego. He’s back for more after leading the Toreros to a stunning 30-27 overtime win at Southern Utah last weekend.

Nankil scored two rushing touchdowns and passed for another to pace the visitors to a 21-10 lead. He scored on runs of 10 and 49 yards and passed five yards to teammate Matt Colombo.

Colombo later scored the game-winning TD on a three-yard run in the OT tiebreaker.

Nankil, who passed for 6,784 yards, 72 touchdowns and won two state championships in varsity seasons at Mater Dei Catholic (2021-23), was a finalist for the 2023 Jerry Rice Award, which is presented annually to the most outstanding player in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision.

Nankil appeared in eight games, completing 109 of 186 passing attempts (58.6 percent) for 1,158 yards and five touchdowns with four interceptions. He also recorded 44 rushing yards and one touchdown.

He threw a career high three TDs in a game against Colorado Mesa.

SWC scores 71-10 win over Orange Coast, gets No. 12 JC state ranking

The Southwestern College football team is standing in elite company after Saturday’s commanding 71-10 non-conference win at Orange Coast College.

It may take an historian to determine if the Jaguars set any school or individual player records in the game, but one thing is certain: the win commanded Southwestern respect in the state community college football rankings.

The Jags enter Saturday’s non-conference game at Long Beach City College ranked No. 12 in the latest state poll.

The top seven teams in the rankings are all 2-0, headed by No. 1 San Mateo, No. 2 Mt San Antonio, No. 3 Modesto, No. 4 Butte, No. 5 (tied) El Camino and Golden West and No. 7 Ventura. Riverside City (1-1) is ranked No. 8, Diablo Valley (2-0) I ranked No. 9, followed by No. 10 Saddleback and No. 11 Bakersfield, both with 2-0 records.

Monterey Peninsula (2-0) follows SWC at No. 13 while Fresno City (1-1) and Sacramento City (2-0) round out the top 15-ranked teams.

Of note, SWC is the top-ranked San Diego County team — ahead of No 16 San Diego Mesa and No. 33 Grossmont (2-0).

The Jaguars logged 10 touchdowns, 29 first downs and 588 yards in total offense in sinking the Pirates (0-2). Ty McCutcheon (168 passing yards) completed three touchdown passes while Brayten Silbor (133 passing yards), Hunter Maxwell (51 passing yards) and Johnny Limon (six passing yards) all had one touchdown pass.

Celeb Blocker (nine carries, 100 yards) notched two rushing touchdowns while Jamarei Ashby-Phan (eight carries, 53 yards) and Mykel Malone (eight carries, 42 yards) each scored one rushing TD.

Tyler Becker (six catches, 108 yards) and Israel Evans (three catches, 84 yards) both had two receiving touchdowns while Josiah Jefferson (four catches, 51 yards) and Davian McGowan (one catch, six yards) both reeled in one scoring pass.

Jacob Cuevas converted nine of 10 extra-point tries.

On defense, Dylan Eads had one interception while Donnovan Hamblin had one fumble recovery.

Long Beach City is 0-2 following a 52-20 loss to Mt. San Jacinto.