Orange Coast College

Football: Pirates fizzle out at Santa Ana, lose 21-17

Saturday, September 22, 2007

SANTA ANA - The second half was a defensive clinic for the Orange Coast College Pirates.

Unfortunately for the OCC defense, the OCC offense couldn't provide enough support as the Santa Ana Dons opened a first-half lead and hung on for a 21-17 win over the Pirates.

Trailing 21-10 at the half, the Pirates' "D" held the Dons (1-3) to a microscopic 39 yards of total offense and one first down in the second half, keeping them off the scoreboard the rest of the night.

However, the offense had its troubles putting together long spells of success and was held to just one touchdown and 95 yards of offense in the second half.

In fact, of the 15 drives combined for both teams in the second half, the Dons and Pirates were able to produce nine punts, two drives that ended in interceptions, three drives that stalled on loss of downs and only one touchdown, an 11-yard TD pass from OCC running back Andrew Banks to receiver Wes Taylor.

That TD brought the Pirates (2-2) to within four, 21-17, with 2:53 left in the third quarter, but they weren't able to find the end zone the rest of the night.

Similar to what the Pirates did to Pasadena last week, OCC was forced into tough field position in the fourth quarter. Coast started its last four drives on its own 25, 10, 20 and 1-yard lines, respectively.

Andrew Banks rushed for 74 yards on 19 carries and had a rushing and passing touchdown to his credit for the Pirates. Kevin Ah-Hi chipped in 66 yards on 13 carries.

The quarterback tandem of Sean Hakes and Taylor Hughes combined for just 9-of-20 passing for 95 yards and two interceptions.

Defensively, the Pirates were led by 10.5 tackles (eight solo) by standout linebacker Shaun Mohler, including 4.5 tackles for a loss. Mike Marowitz was also solid, posting 5.5 tackles (four solo) with 2.5 tackles for a loss.

OCC will return to action on Saturday at Mt. San Antonio, beginning at 1 p.m.