Orange Coast College

Football: Pirates drop heartbreaker to Santa Ana

Saturday, October 11, 2008

SANTA ANA -- It's going to be a LONG bye week for the Orange Coast College football team after Saturday's 28-27 SCFA National Division Southern Conference loss to host Santa Ana.

After starting the season 4-0, the Pirates are now 4-2 (0-2 in conference play) and will now have to prepare for a four-game finale to their schedule against four teams ranked in the top-25 of Southern California.

Things looked good for Coast in the fourth quarter. A touchdown run from Ray Holley with 4:16 left gave OCC a 27-14 lead, but the Dons (4-2, 1-1) quickly answered back with a touchdown of their own, cutting the Pirates' lead to 27-21 with 2:29 left.

All the Pirates needed to do was recover the ensuing onside kick and run out the remaining time on the clock, but the Dons' squib kick deflected off an OCC player and was recovered by Santa Ana.

Four plays later, Bryson Kelly's 16-yard touchdown run and Nick Canney's extra point pushed the Dons in front, 28-27, but with 1:31 left and two timeouts remaining, OCC still had time to respond.

A short Santa Ana kickoff have the Pirates the ball on their own 48-yard line with 1:21 left and five plays later, OCC had the ball down on the Dons' 17 with 30 seconds left.

However, a botched handoff moved the ball back to the SAC 25 and two additional plays pushed the Pirates back another couple of yards, forcing a 44-yard field goal attempt by Ryan Casano with 14 seconds left.

The Dons managed to break through OCC's line and Casano's kick was blocked, ending the Pirates' hopes for victory.

OCC quarterback Taylor Hughes threw for 243 yards and two touchdowns on 17-of-28 passing with one interception. Cameron Hall caught four passes for 104 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown in the second half.

Holley led the Pirates' ground game with 65 rushing yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.

SAC quarterback Michael Coulter threw for 231 yards and a touchdown on 20-of-37 passing as the Dons totalled 406 yards of total offense against of the conference's top defenses.

Both teams entered the night as two of the most penalized teams in the SCFA and both lived up to their billing as the Dons racked up 179 yards on 17 penalties, while the Pirates amassed 106 yards on nine infractions.

Following next week's bye, the Pirates return to LeBard Stadium on Oct. 25 against Grossmont, beginning at 6 p.m.