MLS Real Salt Lake

Snow College & Eastern Arizona College Set to Meet in 2011 Top of the Mountains Bowl

Published on November 21, 2011 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Real Salt Lake News Release


SANDY, Utah (Monday, November 21, 20011) - College football returns to Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 3, when the home of Major League Soccer's Real Salt Lake will play host to the Eighth Annual Top of the Mountains Bowl. For the fourth straight season, Rio Tinto Stadium, in conjunction with the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), will welcome fans for the only collegiate football bowl game contested in the State of Utah, this year featuring the Snow College Badgers (8-3) squaring off against the Eastern Arizona College Gila Monsters (8-3), with kickoff set for 12:00 p.m. MT.

Tickets for the 2011 edition of the Top of the Mountains Bowl are available for $5 (student general seating areas, valid ID necessary at time of purchase), $10 (adult general seating) and $15 (East and West midfield sections). Seats for the gridiron showcase in Sandy are now available for purchase online at www.RioTintoStadium.com and in person at the Rio Tinto Stadium Box Office, open weekdays from 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. MT.

#16-ranked Snow College punched its ticket to the Top of the Mountain Bowl two Saturdays ago, when the Badgers became bowl-eligible after knocking off the then-No.6 ranked New Mexico Military Institute 48-38 in their home finale at Badger Stadium in Ephraim, Utah. The win snapped Snow College's three-game losing skid and allowed it to finish the regular season with an 8-3 mark, good for a third-place finish in the tough Western States Football League, whose five teams were the most from one conference included in the NJCAA's regular season-ending Top 20 poll. The Dec. 3 contest will mark Snow College's 17th appearance in a postseason bowl game (12-4).

Eastern Arizona College enters the postseason after closing its regular season slate on Nov. 12 with a 37-17 road win over Phoenix College, a result that propelled the Gila Monsters into the #17 ranking in the NJCAA national poll. While Eastern Arizona finished in a third-place tie in the Western States Football League alongside Snow College, the Gila Monsters have the leg up in the bowl game rematch after handling the Badgers at home in a 41-14 victory back on October 22. The Top of the Mountains Bowl invite marks the third bowl appearance in Eastern Arizona's history and their second consecutive postseason nod following last year's 42-17 road defeat to Hutchinson (KS) CC in the Salt City Bowl.

Snow College will look to defend its back-to-back Top of the Mountains Bowl titles after having defeated Iowa Western Community College (48-36) last December and Grand Rapids (MI) Community College (41-37) in 2009. The Badgers have now qualified to participate in all eight editions of the Top of the Mountains Bowl, including the first-ever showdown to take place at Rio Tinto Stadium back in 2008, when the Badgers fell 37-30 to Butler (KS) Community College in a double-overtime thriller that doubled as the NJCAA National Championship game. Snow College has amassed a 5-2 record in its seven previous Top of the Mountains Bowl visits.

All-time Top of the Mountains Bowl Results

2011: Snow College v. Eastern Arizona College - Rio Tinto Stadium, 12:00 p.m. MT kickoff

2010: Snow College 48, Iowa Western CC 36 - Rio Tinto Stadium

2009: Snow College 41, Grand Rapids (MI) CC 37 - Rio Tinto Stadium

2008: Butler (KS) CC 37, Snow College 30 - Rio Tinto Stadium

2007: Butler CC 56, Snow College 27 - Rice-Eccles Stadium

2006: Snow College 26, Coffeyville (KS) CC 21 - Rice-Eccles Stadium

2005: Snow College 21, Butler CC 17 - Rice-Eccles Stadium

2004: Snow College 45, Rochester (MN) College 7 - Rice-Eccles Stadium

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