Football: Excitement building for East L.A. Classic

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It’s only halftime of the junior varsity game yet already the home stands at Weingart Stadium on the campus of East Los Angeles College are 80 percent full in anticipation of tonight’s 78th East L.A. Classic between neighborhood rivals Roosevelt and Garfield.

Roosevelt enters as the clear favorite and will clinch the Eastern League title with a victory, but Garfield can move into a tie for first place with one game left should it pull off the upset. Roosevelt leads the series 40-31-6 overall but Garfield has won five of the last seven games and also won the teams’ lone City Section playoff meeting in 2007.

Garfield leads the JV game 22-21 and if the varsity game to follow is just as exciting it will overshadow all the homecoming festivities that are part of the rivalry’s proud tradition. The schools are less than five miles apart and they have been playing each other since 1925. So far, fans donning Bulldogs blue and crimson far outnumber those wearing Rough Riders red and gold.

Varsity kickoff is at 7:30. Log back on to Varsity Times Insider for scoring updates during the game.

-- Steve Galluzzo