Orange Coast College

Football: Pirates drop conference opener to Fullerton, 34-27

Saturday, October 04, 2008

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College football team was its own worst enemy on Saturday night as penalties and turnovers resulted in a 34-27 loss to visiting Fullerton in the SCFA National Division, Southern Conference opener for both teams.

The Pirates (4-1, 0-1) amassed 17 penalties for 144 yards and turned the ball over four times (two fumbles, two interceptions) with two of those miscues leading to FCC (4-1, 1-0) scoring drives.

In addition to their self-inflicted problems, the Pirates' ground game also struggled to get going, totaling 56 yards on 28 carries.

With the ground game contained, OCC had to take to the air and sophomore quarterback Taylor Hughes found some success, throwing for 251 yards, three touchdowns and two INTs on 20-of-34 passing.

Hornets quarterback Jeff Fleming accounted for 204 total yards (133 passing, 71 rushing) with two touchdowns.

Defensively, sophomore Dean DeLeone (pictured above, No. 46) amassed 12 tackles (four solo), including 2 1/2 tackles for loss and two sacks

OCC came out strong in the first quarter, jumping out to a 10-0 advantage, thanks to a 29-yard field goal by Ryan Casano and a 15-yard touchdown strike from Hughes to Scott Lefrandt.

After a pair of 15-yard infractions by the Pirates kept a Fullerton drive alive, the Hornets cashed in with a 26-yard field goal from DeJon Miller to make it 10-3 early in the second quarter.

With 3:07 left in the first half a costly OCC fumble off a punt attempt gave the Hornets the ball inside the Pirate 30-yard line and just two plays later, Fleming hooked up with Dameron Fooks on a 23-yard touchdown, tying the game at 10.

OCC regrouped and ended the first-half scoring with a 29-yard Casano field goal for a 13-10 Pirates advantage at the half.

With just under nine minutes left in the third quarter, Hughes was picked off deep in Pirate territory by Lee Aguirre, giving the Hornets the ball on the OCC 16. Four plays later, Sam Apraku slammed into the end zone from two-yards out, giving the Hornets a 16-13 lead after a botched extra-point attempt.

OCC struggled to get anything the offense going in the third quarter and Fullerton added to its advantage with a 40-yard field goal by Miller, making it 19-13.

Finally, the Pirates got things rolling and a 10-play, 55-yard drive was capped off with an 11-yard TD strike from Hughes to Chris Reihanifam, giving the Pirates a 20-19 lead.

It didn't take long for the Hornets to respond as they gobbled up 66 yards on just back-to-back strikes from Fleming. The first went to Jeremy LeFrance for 36 yards and the second went to Jake Whiting for a 30-yard TD, giving Fullerton a 27-20 lead after a 2-point pass from Fleming to Ray Magee.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the Hornets put the game away with a time-draining, 11-play, 61-yard scoring drive that ate up 4:53 off the clock. The drive was capped off with a two-yard TD run by Kevin Robinson, giving FC a 34-20 lead.

The Pirates managed to make things interesting down the stretch when Hughes hit Tim Smith with a 17-yard touchdown to make it 34-27, but on the ensuing onside kick, Fullerton's Tyler Ortiz came up with the ball. The Hornets needed just three kneel-downs to end OCC's four-game win streak.

The Pirates return to action on Saturday at Santa Ana's Eddie West Field, beginning at 7 p.m. OCC's next home game will be against Grossmont on Oct. 25 at 6 p.m.