The College of San Mateo football team opened defense of its 2022 state and national championship by taking on a familiar foe at College Heights Stadium Saturday, hosting fourth-seeded Modesto in the semifinals of the CCCAA Northern California regional tournament. The top-seeded Bulldogs were hosting the Pirates in the playoffs for the second year in a row. Last year, the Bulldogs cruised to a 30-0 win.

CSM claimed a 44-17 victory over City College of San Francisco in a must-win regular-season finale Saturday at Bulldog Stadium. With the win, CSM claimed the Bay 6 Conference championship for the second straight year.

No. 1 City College of San Francisco (9-0) takes its 10-game winning streak to No. 5 College of San Mateo (9-1), the reigning state champion, for the Bay 6 Conference title.

The stage is set for the biggest community college football showdown of the year.

Following another 60-point Bay 6 League victory, 62-7 over visiting San Joaquin Delta College, reigning state champion College of San Mateo (8-1 overall) will pit matching 4-0 league records with City College of San Francisco (9-0) in a Saturday, Nov. 11 title showdown at College Heights Stadium at 1 p.m.

College of San Mateo continues to roll over its Bay 6 Conference opponents, the latest a 66-3 victory at Chabot College in Hayward on Saturday afternoon. The defending state and league champion Bulldogs (3-1 Bay 6, 7-1 overall) took a quick 21-0 first-quarter lead over the host Gladiators.

Defending 3C2A state champion College of San Mateo (6-1) moved up a place to No. 5 after topping Diablo Valley, 56-7, which was the only team to defeat the Bulldogs in 2022. CCSF and CSM share the Bay 6 lead at 2-0 and meet in the league finale.

The College of San Mateo Bulldogs, en route to last season’s state football championship, experienced one hiccup. A second-half meltdown on Feb. 21, 2022 at Diablo Valley College saw a 21-point halftime lead slip away in a 23-21 defeat, the only loss of CSM’s season. The memory loomed large through the past week in the Bulldogs’ preparation for DVC’s visit Saturday to Bulldog Stadium. The preparation, done with a chip on the Bulldogs’ collective shoulder, certainly paid off.

The College of San Mateo Bulldogs scored more points than they have in seven years, and it was the Dogs’ defense that set the scoring spree in motion.

While state champion College of San Mateo continues to lead the JC Athletic Bureau’s poll of California Community College Football Coaches Association members, there was a slight shuffle among others in the top four this week. CSM took eight first place votes and its Bay 6 League rival City College of San Francisco grabbed the other two to move into a tie with Riverside City College for the No. 2 spot in the rankings, just one vote ahead of Mt. San Antonio. All are 4-0, as is Fullerton, which moved up one position to No. 5.

The College of San Mateo Bulldogs illustrated the old football adage in real time, with a thrilling finish Saturday at College Heights Stadium. The Bulldogs held on for a 24-23 over American River College, denying the Beavers a potential go-ahead two-point conversion attempt in the closing seconds of the game.