The De Anza College football team has once again qualified to play in the Coast Conference southern division bowl game.

After winning last year’s bowl game, the Dons will go into the game with hopeful anticipation of bringing back another conference win to add to their already golden repertoire.

The bowl game is the head–to– head battle between the emerging champions of the mid-empire and golden gate conference. De Anza belongs to the latter, going into the conference undefeated (4-0) after beating Los Medanos, Merced, Diablo Valley and West Hills colleges.

The Dons have won two championships back–to–back and have moved up from a “C” to “B” conference divison team. “No community college football team has ever done that in Northern California,” head football coach Dan Atencio said.

Winning the game against Chabot Nov. 13 clinched the conference for the Dons. The team is now preparing mentally and physically for the bowl game against American River College on Nov. 20. “We have to pay attention to detail. It’s not about hitting it hard every day, it’s all about mental work as well,” Atencio said.

“It feels very exciting to make it this far considering how hard we worked during the summer. Getting to the bowl game shows all the hard work we did day to day,” said first year Rossiano Raison. The Dons’ rigorous preparation consists of weight and film training, as well as practicing out on the field to better hone their technical abilities.

“I feel like we belong to be there, not that we are privileged. We worked hard and are going in it to win it,” said linebacker Andrew Bigelow.