Orange Coast College

Football: Pirates improve to 4-0 with win over Glendale

Sunday, September 28, 2008

GLENDALE -- The Orange Coast College football team improved to 4-0 for the season with a 31-24 nonconference win over Glendale College on Saturday night at Sartoris Field.

It's just the second 4-0 start for the ninth-ranked Pirates since 1991 -- the last coming in 2006.

Sophomore quarterback Taylor Hughes rushed for a pair of touchdowns and threw for a third to lead the Pirate offense. He finished with 157 passing yards on 14-of-26 passing.

Sophomore Kevin Ah-Hi led the ground game with 91 rushing yards on 17 carries, while freshman Ahmed Mokhtar made the most of his first minutes of the season, rushing for 65 yards on just six carries, including a 41-yard dash in the second half.

For 14th ranked Glendale (2-2), a late fourth-quarter rally came up just short as the Vaqueros used a pair of quick scores to quickly cut into a 31-10 fourth-quarter advantage by the Pirates.

An early turning point came midway through the first quarter. Glendale was stopped several times on its drive, only to see the drive extended by three Pirate personal foul penalties, moving the ball inside OCC's 10-yard line. However the Vaqueros could not take advantage and a 27-yard field goal was missed wide-right, keeping the game scoreless.

On the next series, OCC marched down the field and the 10-play, 80-yard drive was capped off with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Hughes to Scott Lefrandt, giving the Pirates a 7-0 lead.

OCC cornerback Karlo Bantan's interception on the Vaqueros' next drive gave Coast the ball on the Vaqueros' 21. Five plays later, Hughes rolled right and found the corner of the end zone on a 3-yard run, putting the Pirates up 14-0.

Glendale running back Lavel Peterson, who led Glendale's rushing with 107 yards on 15 carries, helped move the Vaqueros into scoring position and a 39-yard field goal by Chris Chapman cut OCC's lead to 14-3.

A long kickoff return by OCC's Benjamin Soza was wiped out when he fumbled and Glendale recovered the ball on its 38-yard line with 2:58 left in the first half.

Four plays later, GC quarterback Dylan Martinez found Michael Harrison (five catches, 135 yards) for a 46-yard touchdown strike, to make the score 14-10, Pirates, at the half.

After being hit with eight penalties for 83 yards in the first half, the Pirates cleaned things up in the second half, forcing the Vaqueros into earning their yardage the rest of the way.

OCC took control of things in the third quarter, scoring 17 points on its next three possessions. A 33-yard field goal from Ryan Casano was followed with a Ray Holley 2-yard touchdown run and a Hughes 9-yard TD run, putting Coast up 31-10 with 10:40 left in the fourth quarter.

Martinez (17-of-38, 287, three touchdowns, one interception) would provide some offensive hope in the fourth quarter with a couple of touchdown completions, but it wouldn't be enough.

The Pirates will host Fullerton College on Saturday night at 6 p.m. in both teams' SCFA National Division, Southern Conference opener.