Orange Coast College

Football: Pirates wear out Santa Monica, 28-16

Saturday, September 08, 2007

COSTA MESA - Freshman running back Kevin Ah-Hi rushed for 165 yards on 28 carries with two touchdowns to lead the Orange Coast College Pirates past Santa Monica 28-16 on Saturday at LeBard Stadium.

After just eight yards on four carries, the 5-foot-11, 210-pound running back from Idaho made small potatoes out of the Corsair defense in the second half, racking up 157 yards on 24 carries along the way.

OCC's ground game, further enhanced by a 12-carry, 70-yard, one-touchdown performance by sophomore Andrew Banks, outgained SMC 277-17 on the ground and racked up over 36 minutes of offensive possession time.

The ground game gave the Pirates several short-yard third-down opportunities (8-of-17). Conversely, the Corsairs struggled in that department, converting just 2 of 14 opportunities on third down.

SMC's backup quarterback Lagman Nasouf was 17-of-35 for 151 yards and two touchdowns, but it wasn't enough as the Corsairs were held to just 17 yards rushing by the stingy Pirate defense.

The linebacking trio of Dean DeLeone, Shaun Mohler and Matt Harris combined for 20 tackles (nine solo) and were a big part in the Corsairs' lack of a running game.

OCC opened the game's scoring with an 11-play, 67-yard drive, capped off with a 3-yard touchdown run by Banks, giving the Pirates a 7-0 lead.

Santa Monica answered back and cut the deficit to 7-3 with a 23-yard field goal by Fernando Espinoza.

The Corsairs took the lead with 4:42 left in the second quarter thanks to an eight-play, 42-yard drive that ended with a 14-yard TD pass from Nasouf to Joshua Martin, making it 10-7, Corsairs.

But OCC responded with a 10-play, 57-yard drive on its next possession, ending with a 7-yard TD strike from quarterback Sean Hakes to Cameron Hall.

On Coast's first possession of the third quarter, Ah-Hi's elusive running began to take its toll on the Corsair defense as he racked up 48 yards in the 56-yard scoring drive, including a 15-yard TD carry, giving OCC a 21-10 lead.

Santa Monica kept hanging in there as they scored again with 11:07 left in the fourth quarter on a 20-yard touchdown from Nasouf to Daron Bartholomew and following a missed 2-point try, the Pirates' lead was cut to 21-16.

But OCC put the finishing touches on the game thanks to Ah-Hi, who capped off his fine night with a 37-yard touchdown run with 7:05 left in the game to close out the scoring.

The Pirates will stay at LeBard Stadium next week when they host Pasadena City College at 5 p.m.