Moorpark College saluted 15 men from the school’s first football team that formed in 1968, in celebration of 40 years of Raider Football.

These men, although sharing many different memories from their season with the Raiders, all share one common bond: pride.

At the beginning of half time during the Raiders game against the Hornet’s, the 15 players got their name read off and got to jog out to center of the field were they received a banner with their names on it celebrating the monumental occasion of being members of the first Raider football team that this school had seen.

Pete Orozco, a member of the 1968 Raiders, mentioned how proud he is to be one of the founders.

“It’s nice to know what we started has grown so fast,” said Orozco. “We started it and I’m proud of it.”

One player, Will Berg, recalls the great opportunities that stemmed from Raider football.

“Moorpark College provided an opportunity that otherwise wouldn’t have been available,” said Berg. “With the opportunity most were able to go on and not only play ball at a 4 year university, but also receive our degrees. It was an incredible and valuable experience.”

Larry Meeks was a member of both the football team and the baseball team. He remembers seeing the stadium go up and actually helped give it the scenery known today around Griffin Stadium.

“I helped to plant all the trees that you see around here,” Meeks said. “It was a pain but it looks great today.”

Along with all hard work that football brings you will have the “smart guy” as John Gagman likes to describe himself.

“When all these guys would be running up and down the hills, I would just run over the hill and to the locker room,” said Gagman. “I believe that we had a great cast of characters though.”Gagman also wanted to stress how beautiful the campus, and the girls were.

It is very obvious to see how pleased these teammates were to see the positive change in the program. The reunited teammates were debating amongst themselves as to whether they played their first games at Simi Valley High School, or Royal High School. They came to the general agreement of Simi Valley High School.

What these players did for Moorpark College won’t be forgotten as long as Moorpark has a Football team but these men wish they could go back and do it all over again. PJ Tolorino’s thoughts give perfect insight as to why these guys bonds are so strong.

“These guys I played with our life-long friend’s,” said PJ Tolorino. “I wish we could put a quarter in the machine and start it all over again.”