Glendale falls to Saddleback 58-12 in 2021 season opener Sept. 4
In a game that was not originally part of the 2021 schedule, the Glendale College Vaqueros football team hit the road to face Saddleback College Saturday, Sept. 4 and came away on the short end of 58-12. GCC was scheduled to open up the season against Los Angeles Southwest College on March 11 and Saddleback was to face LASW on Sept. 4 before the common opponent dropped football for this season which necessitated the schedule change.
The game was also the coaching debut of GCC Interim Head Football Coach Tanner Farwell who despite the lopsided score, was happy to be at least playing a game after meeting with his team for months only on Zoom and just getting on the field in May within heavy COVID-19 protocols.
But the highlights of the game against the highly ranked National Conference powerhouse were few for GCC as Artis Cole hauled in a 4-yard scoring pass from quarterback Nick Garcia at the 14:54 mark of the second quarter followed by a 95-yard kick return for a touchdown by Nick Johnson at the third quarter for Glendale's only two scores of the game. Garcia connected on nine of 13 passes for just 29 yards and Kevin Armstead led the ground game with 37 yards rushing on 10 carries as Glendale was in possession of the ball for just 19 minutes and 14 seconds in the 60-minute contest.
The Vaqs have a bye this week before traveling to face Victor Valley College on Sept. 18 and College of the Desert on Sept. 25 with both games starting at 6 p.m. Glendale's home opener is Saturday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. against Santa Barbara City College at Sartoris Field.