Southwestern sets sights on win, snagging home bowl game berth

It’s not the ending that Southwestern College football coach Oscar Rodriguez might have envisioned for this team. But, as the saying goes, it is what it is.

The Jaguars, mired in an unexpected three-game losing streak, will close out regular season play this Saturday at 1 p.m. against Chaffey College. Southwestern enters the game 6-3 on the season following a magical 6-0 start. Chaffey is 1-8, 0-6 in conference play.

Saturday’s game is not the end of the season, however. The Jaguars are bowl eligible and are guaranteed to play one more game.

It’s a reward for a winning season, tough a conference championship may not be in the cards.

“We have to let this last week play out but I’m pretty sure we eliminated ourselves from (state) playoff contention,” Rodriguez said. “We will play in a bowl game, but we need to win Saturday to get a chance to host, and if we get matched with a team with a better record, we will play on the road most likely.”

The National Southern Conference championship title appears to go through either El Camino or Saddleback, both with 6-0 conference records and 8-1 overall marks.

Riverside sits behind the two front-runners with a 4-2 conference record, 6-3 in conference.

Southwestern is where it’s at after dropping contests to all three teams ahead of it.

Saddleback put itself in championship contention by defeating the visiting Jaguars, 48-7, last Saturday.

The Jaguars opened scoring in the game on a 30-yard pass from Brayten Silbor, returning to the lineup, to Josiah Jefferson. Jacob Cuevas’ extra-point conversion was good for a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter.

But a 65-yard interception by Saddleback’s Kyle Nguyen helped set up the game-tying touchdown and the Bobcats were on their way to a 21-7 halftime lead. Tyler Dudden scored on three consecutive runs and Jaylen Beverly tacked on two fourth quarter runs to lift Saddleback to the division co-lead.

Silbor passed for 151 yards with one TD and two interceptions. Jefferson, now bound for USC, had five catches for 71 yards while Clint Thomas Jr reeled in six passes for 64 yards.

Southwestern was decisively out-gained 262-78 on the ground and 373-267 overall.

Valentino Wedderburn II led the Jags with 15 tackles, including nine unassisted stops.

Community College Standings  

National Southern

                  League/Overall

El Camino                 6-0, 8-1

Saddleback              6-0, 8-1

Riverside                 4-2, 6-3

Southwestern         3-3, 6-3

San Diego Mesa     3-3, 4-5

Mt. San Jacinto      1-5, 3-6

Palomar                    1-5, 2-7

Chaffey                     0-6, 1-8

Aztecs have 7-1 reasons to celebrate 27-7 win over Wyoming

It was a wonderful weekend for both the San Diego State University football and men’s ice hockey teams.

The SDSU football team roared to its sixth consecutive win, 27-7 over the visiting Wyoming Cowboys Saturday at Snapdragon Stadium, to improve to 7-1 on the season, 4-0 in Mountain West play, in front of a homecoming crowd of 17,109 (24,325 tickets distributed).

The Aztecs’ six-game win streak is the longest since winning seven games in a row to start the 2021 campaign — one that finished 12-2 with a top 25 national ranking.

SDSU has out-scored its opponents 176-44 over the current six-game stretch.

SDSU improved to 4-0 in Mountain West play for the third time in league history. The Aztecs forced four turnovers on defense while Lucky Sutton rushed for a career high 158 yards to notch his second consecutive 100-yard game and fourth of the season.

The Aztecs are the only undefeated team in conference play. Boise State, which SDSU hosts on Nov. 15, is 4-1 in MW play while Fresno State, Hawaii and New Mexico are all 3-2. Boise State is 6-2 overall while Fresno State, Hawaii and New Mexico are all 6-3. UNLV (2-2 in conference) is 6-2 overall.

“Good win, another dominant performance by the defense,” SDSU head coach Sean Lewis said. “Aside from that opening drive, I think Wyoming had 49 yards in the second half, which is outstanding. Another great step by our players.

“Excited for the direction of where we’re at, where we’re headed. Every single week, there’s parity. The talent distribution throughout all of college football has flattened. There’s great talent everywhere. There’s great coaching everywhere. Every single team is talented enough in this league to beat anyone else. That’s the beauty of what we get to do.”

QB Jayden Denegal passed for 194 yards and one TD — 24 yards to Byron Cardwell (Morse) — while Jordan Napier scored one rushing touchdowns and Gabriel Plascencia kicked a 34-yard field goal.

Mountain West Standings

SDSU 4-0, 7-1
Boise State 4-1, 6-3
Fresno State 3-2, 6-3
Hawaii 3-2, 6-3
New Mexico 3-2, 6-3
UNLV 2-2, 6-2
Utah State 2-2, 4-4
San Jose State 2-2, 3-5
Wyoming 2-3. 4-5
Colorado State 1-3, 2-6
Air Force 1-4, 2-6
Nevada-Reno 0-4, 1-7

Ice age
The pigskin prowess followed on the heels of Friday’s 6-1 Aztec hockey win over the UC-San Diego Tritons in a non-conference ACHA matchup at the Kroc Center Ice Arena that served as SDSU’s first victory of the 2025-26 season following a 0-7-1 start.

Senior Logan Okanski paced the Aztec ice men with two goals while Eastlake alum Braden Mayer collected one goal (on the power play) and two assists. Captain Ryan Elleraas contributed one goal and one assist.

“It feels good to get that win,” Okanski said. “The best tme to get a goal is in the first five minutes. We set the tempo. We set the pace. It gives us momentum. It shows we can win.”

The Tritons (0-6) broke SDSU goaltender Nicholas Heinzle’s shutout bid on a goal by Logan Defreitas with 3:45 to play to play in the third period.

The Aztecs out-shot UCSD 65-21. Triton netminder Matthew Mahlow starred for his team with 59 saves.

Mayer ranks in a three-way tie for second place in team scoring.