Fantastic finishes
The 2025 season is only four weeks old and the number of great finishes to games has been one of the story lines of the season. This week several games came down to the final drives.
The Dirty 30 Rankings had some monster games this past weekend and the top 10 had three programs fall from the ranks of unbeaten. The game of the week pitted Hutchinson against Iowa Western, with the finish being every bit as good as the pregame hype. Iowa Western led 27-23 when Hutchinson scored a late touchdown with just over a minute remaining to stun the Reivers, 30-27. Hutchinson remains No. 1 in the JCGridiron Dirty 30 Rankings while Iowa Western fell to No. 7 with the loss.
Mississippi Gulf Coast improved to 3-0 with a comeback victory over Jones College. The Bulldogs trailed 24-20 before Landon Varnes connected with Mason Beverly on a 73-yard score to take a 27-24 lead late in the third quarter. Both teams would go scoreless in the fourth quarter as Gulf Coast held on for the win. Gulf Coast is now at No. 3 in the Dirty 30 following the win.
The West Coast started to take shape this week after a handful of big games. San Mateo took control of the Northern California ranks with a 41-21 win against previous No. 14 Modesto. The teams were tied at half before San Mateo put together a big second half in winning comfortably. San Mateo remains at No. 2 in the rankings while Modesto dropped a couple of spots to No. 16. A couple of other programs in the north are lurking in Butte and Diablo Valley. Butte comes in at No. 9 in the rankings this week while Diablo Valley jumped seven spots to No. 11. San Mateo and Diablo Valley meet on October 11.
The Southern California ranks had some great finishes this past weekend. Mt. San Antonio (pictured) rallied from a slow start to turn back El Camino College, 37-27. The Mounties were down 13-0 before scoring four times in the second quarter to take a 28-13 lead into the locker room. El Camino chiseled the lead down to 34-27 in the fourth quarter but couldn’t stop a balanced Mt. San Antonio attack that rolled up 476 yards of offense. Mt. SAC (3-0) now sits at No. 4 in the rankings while El Camino dropped four spots to No. 14.
Golden West put a thrashing on Allan Hancock on Saturday (55-0) and moved up four spots to No. 5 in the rankings. The Rustlers led 41-0 at the break before taking their foot off the accelerator. Golden West is averaging close to 44 points through three games.
Two more with undefeated records in Southern California are No. 17 Ventura and No. 28 Southwestern. Ventura outlasted Bakersfield College in a matchup of unbeatens, 45-38. The two squads combined for 960 yards of offense. Southwestern is 3-0 after cruising past an undermanned Long Beach City team, 38-14. The No. 28 ranking is the highest in history for a Jaguar program that looked on the brink of elimination a year ago when they had very low numbers. Southwestern now gets a gritty Mt. San Jacinto program this weekend, who sits on the bubble at No. 44 in the rankings.
One quick riser from the Southwest Junior College Football Conference (SWJCFC) is Tyler Junior College, who improved to 3-0 with a 31-13 win at Trinity Valley. The Apaches moved up 10 spots to No. 13 in the rankings with the impressive performance, taking over the top spot among SWJCFC programs.
Here is the rest of the JCGridiron Dirty 30 Rankings. Just a reminder, the Dirty 30 Rankings do not count games against unaffiliated programs or club programs in the rankings.
- JCGridiron Dirty 30 Rankings (9/15/25)
| Rank | Team | City | Rcd. | Next |
| 1 | Hutchinson | Hutchinson, KS | 2-0 | @ #8 IA Central |
| 2 | San Mateo | San Mateo, CA | 3-0 | @ American River |
| 3 | Gulf Coast | Perkinston, MS | 3-0 | vs #41 Southwest |
| 4 | Mt. San Antonio | Walnut, CA | 3-0 | @ #32 Citrus |
| 5 | Golden West | Huntington Beach, CA | 3-0 | @ #31 Bakersfield |
| 6 | Garden City | Garden City, KS | 2-0 | vs Coffeyville |
| 7 | Iowa Western | Council Bluffs, IA | 1-1 | @ Dodge City |
| 8 | Iowa Central | Fort Dodge, IA | 2-0 | vs #1 Hutchinson |
| 9 | Butte | Oroville, CA | 3-0 | @ #16 Modesto |
| 10 | Riverside City | Riverside, CA | 2-1 | vs #29 Saddleback |
| 11 | Diablo Valley | Pleasant Hill, CA | 3-0 | vs Sacramento City |
| 12 | Northeast | Booneville, MS | 3-0 | @ Holmes (TH) |
| 13 | Tyler | Tyler, TX | 3-0 | bye |
| 14 | El Camino | Torrance, CA | 2-1 | vs Chaffey |
| 15 | East Mississippi | Scooba, MS | 2-1 | @ Itawamba (TH) |
| 16 | Modesto | Modesto, CA | 2-1 | vs #9 Butte |
| 17 | Ventura | Ventura, CA | 3-0 | @ Moorpark |
| 18 | Hinds | Raymond, MS | 2-1 | vs Delta (TH) |
| 19 | Navarro | Corsicana, TX | 1-1 | @ Kilgore |
| 20 | Butler | El Dorado, KS | 2-0 | vs #38 Independence |
| 21 | Jones | Ellisville, MS | 2-1 | @ #22 CoLin (TH) |
| 22 | Copiah-Lincoln | Wesson, MS | 2-1 | vs #21 Jones (TH) |
| 23 | Georgia Military | Milledgeville, GA | 3-1 | vs # 27 Lackawanna |
| 24 | Fullerton | Fullerton, CA | 2-1 | @ East LA |
| 25 | Northwest | Senatobia, MS | 2-1 | vs Coahoma (TH) |
| 26 | Fresno City | Fresno, CA | 2-1 | @ #42 San Francisco |
| 27 | Lackawanna | Scranton, PA | 2-0 | @ #23 GMC |
| 28 | Southwestern | Chula Vista, CA | 3-0 | vs #44 Mt. San Jacinto |
| 29 | Saddleback | Mission Viejo, CA | 2-1 | @ #10 Riverside City |
| 30 | Snow | Ephraim, UT | 1-1 | bye |
Other on the Bubble: Bakersfield (CA) 2-1, Citrus (CA) 2-1, Cerritos (CA) 2-1, San Diego Mesa (CA) 1-2, Sequoias (CA) 2-1, Trinity Valley (TX) 2-1, Sierra (CA) 1-2, Independence (KS) 2-1, Pasadena City (CA) 2-1, DuPage (IL) 4-0, Southwest (MS) 2-1, San Francisco (CA) 1-2, Monterey Peninsula (CA) 3-0, Mt. San Jacinto (CA) 2-1, Santa Rosa (CA) 1-2, Laney (CA) 1-2, Siskiyous (CA) 3-0, Cisco (TX) 1-0, De Anza (CA) 3-0, Los Medanos (CA) 3-0
