After being shutout of the Southern California playoffs last year, head coach Brett Peabody and his Long Beach City College Vikings will finally get their chance to play for a state championship. LBCC was named the South's No. 3 seed for the regional playoffs and will face rival second-seeded Cerritos College at Falcon Stadium on November 21 in the Southern California Bowl. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Tickets for the game will be $10 for general admission and $8 for students, staff, children under 12 and senior citizens. Tickets will only be available the night of the game at the stadium box office. The game will also be broadcast live on www.socalcollegesports.com.
The winner of Saturday night's contest will advance to the Southern California Championship game on November 28 and will face either No. 4-seeded Riverside City College (8-2) or No. 1-seed Saddleback College (8-2).
Long Beach wrapped up a 9-1 regular season last night with a 38-36 win over El Camino College. LBCC, Riverside, and Mt. San Antonio College all finished 5-1 in National Central League play to share the NCL championship. Long Beach won the tie-breaker over RCC to earn the league's automatic bid into the playoffs while the Tigers were awarded the fourth and final at-large berth.
The Central League championship was the Vikings' first league/conference title since 2011. LBCC will be making its first-ever appearance in SCFA playoffs since the association's formation in 2008.
Cerritos enters the postseason with an 8-2 overall record and were co-champions of the National Northern League with a 5-1 record. The Falcons are coming off a 44-15 rout over College of the Canyons in their regular-season finale.
Saturday's Southern California Bowl will also renew the LBCC-Cerritos rivalry. The two squads haven't faced each other since 2011. The Falcons won that contest 52-34 in Long Beach and retained possession of the Crosstown Cup, the perpetual trophy awarded to the winner of the rivalry game. Cerritos has won the previous three meetings with LBCC last beating Cerritos in 2008. The Falcons lead the all-time series between the squads with a 30-22-1 mark.