Orange Coast College

Football: Pirates' struggles continue in loss to Palomar

Saturday, November 08, 2008

SAN MARCOS -- The Orange Coast College football team fell to 0-5 in the SCFA National Division's Southern Conference with a 41-14 loss to Palomar College on Saturday at Escondido High School.

Palomar (7-3, 3-3 in conference) picked up big performances on the ground as well as in the air. Running back Tyler Lavea rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns on just 10 carries, while quarterback Matt Christian threw for 288 yards and two scores on 13-of-26 passing. Comets' big-play wide receiver Martavious Lee made the most of his four catches, scoring twice and racking up 159 receiving yards.

OCC's freshman quarterback Sean Reilly threw for 208 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 21-of-41 passing with two interceptions. Cameron Hall led the receiving corps with six catches for 71 yards and a touchdown, while running back Ray Holley notched a 65-yard touchdown reception of his own.

Those two scores were the first of the game as OCC (4-5, 0-5) jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, thanks to a pair of Comet turnovers.

A pair of Lee touchdown catches from Christian tied things up early in the second quarter and the Comets took the lead for good on a 24-yard touchdown run from Lavea with 4:17 left in the second quarter.

OCC had a chance to regain the momentum before the half with a 17-play drive that consumed the final 4:17 of the second quarter, but the drive yielded no points as a 38-yard field-goal attempt by Ryan Casano was pushed to the right, keeping the Comets ahead, 21-14 at the half.

A 66-yard touchdown run by Lavea on the fourth play of the second half set the tone the rest of the way as the Comets racked up 544 yards of total offense on just 63 plays -- an 8.3 yards-per-carry average.

With last week's 48-38 loss to Saddleback, OCC has allowed 40-or-more points in back-to-back weeks for the first time in school history. The Pirates look to end the 2008 season on a winning note on Saturday against Long Beach City, beginning at 6 p.m. at LeBard Stadium.