Orange Coast College

Pirates leave Dons behind, 21-6

Saturday, October 28, 2006

COSTA MESA - Sometimes the numbers DO lie.
Santa Ana racked up 394 yards of total offense on 92 plays, but could only come up with six points as Orange Coast College snapped a two-game losing streak with a 21-6 win on Saturday night at LeBard Stadium.
The win improves the No. 9 Pirates' record to 6-2 overall, 1-2 in the Mission Conference National Division, while the No. 5 Dons drop to 6-2, 1-2.
Santa Ana came out aggressive on its opening possession, capping off an eight-play, 70-yard scoring drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kasey Peters to wide receiver DeAndre Williams. However, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed the extra-point attempt back 15 yards and the attempt was missed, keeping the score 6-0.
Orange Coast, one of the top teams in the conference in terms of limited turnovers, coughed up the ball on the ensuing kickoff, giving the ball back to the Dons, but the Pirate defense picked up the slack and forced a Dons punt from the OCC 31.
On the Pirates' next possession, they put together their best drive of the night, marching down the field 90 yards on 15 plays. The drive ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Kekoa Crowell and with a Brock Jaramillo PAT, the Pirates took a 7-6 lead and the game looked like it would be a high-scoring affair.
The Dons offense moved down the field and found success throughout the night, but several costly errors proved too much to overcome.
After another OCC turnover, the Dons had the ball on the Pirate 20, but the drive stalled on the 8 and Domi Bronowicki's 26-yard field goal was hooked to the right, enabling the Bucs to maintain their lead.
That momentum was given a severe jolt two plays later as Crowell hooked up with Damola Adeniji for a 75-yard touchdown strike, giving OCC a 14-6 lead midway through the second quarter.
It was a case of missed opportunities for both teams the rest of the first half. Following a blocked punt by OCC's Chris Holmesly, the Pirates failed to convert the excellent field position into points as a 30-yard field goal was pushed wide right.
Santa Ana put together a 15-play, 71-yard drive that ended on the Pirates' 27 when Holmesly stripped wide receiver David Richmond of the football and was recovered by OCC teammate Benjamin Soza, ending the first half.
It was more of the same in the second half as Santa Ana would threaten, but the Pirate defense would come up with the big play when they needed it the most.
The Dons were 0-for-6 on fourth-down opportunities for the game with most of them coming in the second half. The biggest came early in the fourth quarter. With OCC hanging on to a 14-6 lead, the Dons had third and goal from the Pirates' 1-yard line, but after a QB run was stuffed, Peters again tried to plow it in, but a mishandled snap did the play in as OCC defenders Matt Harris and Shaun Mohler were quick to keep the QB out of the end zone, ending the drive.
OCC iced the game with 2:10 left as Pirate defender Chris Assily picked off a Peters' fourth-down pass and returned it 72 yards for an OCC touchdown, capping off the game's scoring.
Peters finished the night with 297 passing yards on 27-of-57 passing with two interceptions and one touchdown.
For the Pirates, running back Andrew Banks led all ball-carriers with 96 rushing yards on 22 carries. Crowell finished 8 of 14 with a touchdown and an interception. Adeniji led the OCC receiving corps with 97 yards and a touchdown four catches.
OCC returns to action next week at Cerritos, beginning at 7 p.m.