COSTA MESA - Apparently the old adage "play for the tie at home" didn't apply to the Orange Coast College football team on Saturday night.

After pulling to within one on a Kevin Ah-Hi touchdown run in the second overtime, the Pirates skipped the extra point and won the game on a successful 2-point attempt from quarterback Chris Debowski to receiver Nathan Barnett to give the Pirates a stunning 35-34 double-overtime win over the Fullerton Hornets at LeBard Stadium.

The win not only snapped a four-game losing streak for the Pirates (3-4, 1-1 in Mission Conference), it also gave the offense a much-needed shot in the arm as they showed infinite improvement against the 11th ranked Hornets (5-2, 1-1).

Led by Debowski's 249-yard, three-touchdown performance (two passing, one rushing), the Pirates racked up 400 yards of total offense and showed poise and control under late-game pressure.

Trailing 20-13 with 3:22 left in the game and the ball on their own 19-yard line, the Pirates needed just 1:51 to go 81 yards as Debowski capped off the drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Craig Villalpando, evening the score at 20.

But, on the PAT, Cody Morrow's attempt was blocked by Lee Aguirre -- his second blocked kick of the game -- to keep the game tied.

In the first overtime, a Debowski-to-Barnett hookup for 20 yards was followed up with a Ah-Hi touchdown run to give OCC a 27-20 lead following a successful Morrow PAT. Ah-Hi (pictured right) finished the night with 123 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries.

Fullerton answered back on its offensive possession when quarterback Kyle Olson (14-31, 155 yards, one touchdown, one interception) hooked up with Adam Hill for a 19-yard TD strike and following the made PAT by Carlos Reyes, the game went into a second overtime.

With first-and-goal from the Pirates' 2, the OCC defense made standout running back Brandon Edwards work for his touchdown, but the sophomore, who racked up 196 yards on 30 carries, crashed into the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 1 to give Fullerton a 34-27 lead.

OCC's drive struggled early as three straight Debowski passes found the OCC turf, forcing a fourth down.

But the sophomore QB kept his poise and hit Barnett for a 12-yard connection for a first down and, following a roughing-the-passer penalty by the Hornets, OCC had the ball on Fullerton's 6-yard line.

From there, Ah-Hi dashed up the middle and found the end zone to make it 34-33, giving the Pirates the option to kick the PAT or go for the win.

The Pirates chose the ladder as Debowski dropped back to pass, scrambled to the right to buy more time and threaded a pass through traffic and into the arms of Barnett in the end zone, sending the OCC players, coaches and fans into a frenzy.

Spreading out the OCC passing game, Debowski completed passes to eight different players with Jamaal Villa (76 yards, one TD), Barnett (41 yards) and Wes Taylor (35 yards) each catching four to lead the Pirates.

While the Pirates' defense gave up more yards than usual, they stepped up and made the big plays when they needed to be made.

Once again, sophomore standout Shaun Mohler was in on most of the fun, totaling 17 tackles (six solo, 11 assisted) with two for a loss, one interception and 1.5 sacks. Joining in on the OCC hit parade included Matt Harris (13 tackles, five solo, 4.5 tackles for loss, half of a sack), Chris Holmesly and Dean DeLeone (nine tackles, three solo, two pass breakups each).

With momentum finally on the side of the Pirates, they return to LeBard Stadium on Saturday at 5 p.m. as the visitors when they take on Golden West in the battle for the Victory Bell.