Orange Coast College

Football: Ah-Hi, Baichtal lead Pirates past Long Beach City

Saturday, November 10, 2007

COSTA MESA -- While it's true that it was "Sophomore Night" at LeBard Stadium, it was a pair of freshmen who helped lead Orange Coast College past Long Beach City, 20-14 on Saturday night.

Freshman Kevin Ah-Hi (pictured right) rushed a record-setting 48 times for 266 yards and a touchdown to lead the OCC offense, while freshman defensive back Shad Baichtal notched three interceptions -- two inside the Pirates' end zone -- to preserve the win.

Ah-Hi's 48 carries shattered the previous-best mark of 38, set by Bart Recktenwald in 1987 against San Diego Mesa. His 266 rushing yards were just 9 yards shy of OCC's all-time record, set back in 1956 by Bill Harrison against American River. It was the last 200-yard rushing game since 2002, when Niles Mittasch ran for 224 against Fullerton.

The last OCC player to have three interceptions in one game was back in 1978 when Ron Padilla pulled it off against Santa Ana.

It was a game where the Pirates had the ball for nearly three full quarters (43:53), but still had to hold on for dear life in the game's final minutes. OCC (4-5, 2-2 in American Division) took the lead on the Vikings (2-7, 1-3) when Ah-Hi ran right, then used a series of cutbacks to find the end zone on a 14-yard run with 5:09 left in the game. But the PAT sailed wide-left, making the score 20-14.

But LBCC used its speed to its advantage and when Stephen Burton returned the ensuing kickoff 52 yards back to the Pirates' 30-yard line, the Vikings looked to be in business.

With 4:14 left and the ball on the OCC 19, quarterback Gabriel Thomas looked up the middle for a pass, but instead, found Baichtal (pictured left) at the Pirates' 8-yard line for his third pickoff of the night, ending all hopes for a victory, especially with Ah-Hi rumbling for 5.5 yards per rush.

OCC started the scoring with a 27-yard field goal by Cody Williams with 18 seconds left in the first quarter, but the Vikings quickly responded with a six-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Darren Tubbs, giving LBCC a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter.

Another Williams field goal -- this time from 43 yards out -- cut the deficit to 7-6, but the lightning-quick Burton would be found for a 63-yard touchdown pass from Thomas, giving the Vikings a 14-6 lead at the half. Burton would finish with 215 all-purpose yards (152 yards receiving, 63 yards on kickoffs) on a night were individual accolades were commonplace between the two schools.

LBCC was driving towards the end zone once again before Shad Baichtal came up with his first interception in the Pirates' end zone, keeping the Vikings off the scoreboard once again with 4:30 left in the first half.

Quarterback Chris Debowski capped off the longest drive of the season for OCC when he galloped into the end zone from 4 yards out, ending a 15-play, 93-yard drive that lasted 8:18 of the third quarter. Ah-Hi garnered nine of those carries and racked up 59 yards on that one drive. Trailing 14-12, OCC went for two and on the play, Nathan Barnett took a handoff, rolled to the right and threw a strike to Wes Taylor in the end zone to tie the game at 14 with 4:11 left in the third quarter.

A Pirate turnover inside their own 40 seemed to spell trouble for the hosts, but five plays later, Baichtal once again bailed his team out with his second pickoff in the end zone, ending another Viking drive deep in OCC territory.

From there, it became "The Kevin Ah-Hi Show" as the 5-foot-11, 210-pound workhorse carried the ball 12 straight times and accounted for 75 of the 80 yards in the drive (five yards came on a LBCC penalty). His 12th straight carry resulted in game-winning 14-yard touchdown with 5:09 left in the game. In fact, in the final 24 plays, 20 were Ah-Hi runs.

OCC will return to action on Friday night against Golden West at LeBard Stadium, beginning at 7 p.m. to conclude the season for both teams. The "Battle for the Bell," originally scheduled for Oct. 27, was postponed due to poor air quality as a result of the wildfires throughout the southland.