Orange Coast College

Football: Turnovers costly in Pirates loss to Citrus

Saturday, September 01, 2007

GLENDORA -- The "Week 1" bugs were out in full force for the Orange Coast College football team as the Pirates dropped their season opener, literally, with a 27-10 nonconference loss to host Citrus on Saturday night at Citrus Stadium.

Hampered by five costly turnovers, 10 penalties for 102 yards and several sloppy plays on both sides of the ball, the Pirates watched the Owls (1-0) put 27 points on the scoreboard despite being held to under 200 yards of total offense.

In fact, not counting the two earned TD-scoring drives Citrus had the entire night (eight plays, 56 yards and nine plays, 85 yards), the Pirate defense held the Owls to just 56 yards of total offense on 33 plays the rest of the night.

But Citrus took advantage of two of OCC's turnovers and turned them into 13 points. Trailing 7-3, quarterback Taylor Hughes was sacked deep in Pirate territory by Owls' defensive lineman James Dunlap, who also knocked the ball out of Taylor's hands. Citrus teammate Devin Johnson scooped up the football and scampered the final eight yards into the end zone to give the Owls a 14-3 lead.

Minutes later, a Citrus punt went through the hands of returner Nathan Barnett and was recovered by the Owls on the Pirates' 14-yard line, setting up a convenient one-play, 14-yard drive as quarterback Travis Gowan hit Chris Lacount for a touchdown, pushing the lead up to 20-3 following a missed PAT.

OCC had two golden opportunities to cut into the deficit by halftime, but two drives that started inside the Owls' 40 resulted in an interception and an expired clock as the Pirates' offense sputtered throughout the evening.

The Pirates' offense totaled 220 yards (122 passing, 98 rushing). The lone bright spot offensively was receiver Brandon Ahlo, who had 75 yards on five catches. Quarterback Sean Hakes showed his athletic ability on several occasions, rushing for a team-high 70 yards on 15 carries. The freshman lefty also threw for 53 yards on 6-of-15 passing with a touchdown and two interceptions. Starting quarterback Taylor Hughes was 5 of 17 for 69 yards in the air, while running back Andrew Banks struggled on the ground, rushing for just 52 yards on 20 carries.

Defensively, the linebacker tandem of Matt Harris and Shaun Mohler each made a lot of noise, combining for 12 tackles (eight solo), 4.5 tackles for a loss and 2.5 sacks. OCC had five sacks total for the night.

OCC kicks off its home schedule on Saturday against Santa Monica at LeBard Stadium, beginning at 5 p.m.