SBCC is coming off a 7-4 season in which the Vaqueros played a post-season bowl game. (Presidio Sports Photo)
SBCC will know about every opponent on the 2015 football schedule as the Vaqueros are facing the same 10 teams as last year. They open on Sept. 5 at San Bernardino Valley.
“We are very familiar with this year’s schedule, since we’ll just be switching home and away from last season,” said head coach Craig Moropoulos, who’s entering his ninth year. “The opener will be very challenging, having to travel and play a very talented San Bernardino Valley team at their home.”
The home opener is Saturday, Sept. 12 vs. county rival Hancock at 1 p.m. East Los Angeles comes to La Playa Stadium the following week for another 1 p.m. contest. The seven-game American Pacific League schedule starts with road games at West L.A. (Sept. 26, 1 p.m.) and L.A. Southwest (Oct. 3, 6 p.m.).
The three home APL games will be Oct. 17 vs. L.A. Valley, a Halloween date with Antelope Valley and Nov. 7 vs. Santa Monica with all three kicking off at 1 p.m.
“We have a large group of student-athletes in our Summer class right now and the most encouraging area is the numbers in the Offensive (15) and Defensive (16) lines,” said Moropoulos. “That will create competition which is always a good thing.”
Moropoulos said the Vaqueros will return five starters on offense and three on defense from last year’s 7-4 edition that went to a bowl game for the first time in 17 years. SBCC lost last year’s opener to San Bernardino 18-10, then reeled off seven straight wins to tie the single-season school record.
“We will have some new faces in the lineups,” he noted. “We are excited about our newcomers but it is still way too early to tell who will line up on the 5th of September.
“Competing and winning the conference is always our goal, and if we achieve that, then getting to a Bowl Game is next in line. But we have a lot of work to do first and the guys are working extremely hard right now, so we are ‘cautiously’ optimistic.”
