The Cerritos College football team, coming off of a 21-19 win over Bakersfield College, will take on another powerful opponent Saturday when it goes to Santa Clarita to play the Cougars of College of the Canyons.

The Falcons (1-0) are ranked number one in Southern California in the latest Commission on Athletics/California Community Colleges Football Coaches Association poll and fourth in the nation by J.C. Grid-Wire.

Falcons’ coach Frank Mazzotta said he expects a donnybrook, and that the Cougars, who lost 27-3 at Santa Ana Saturday, “are going to be up” for Cerritos.

He said that Canyons (0-1) likes to throw the ball a lot, and its “wide open” offense, with a mixture of passes, is “like what we want to be.”

He added that the Cougars looked good in a scrimmage against Long Beach, and gave two reasons why they were beaten by the Dons.

“First, they had to get up early” to travel for an afternoon game, and second, they thought that they would have an easy game.

He added that Canyons “didn’t look like they were ready to play,” and Santa Ana is a team that “is well coached.”

The Cougars, who went 9-1 last season, began the season ranked eleventh in the state.

They scored their only points of the game with a minute-and-a-half remaining, being shut down by a Santa Ana defense which returns eight starters.