Orange Coast College

Football: Pirates fall to Long Beach, 50-46

Saturday, November 15, 2008

COSTA MESA -- A tough stretch to the 2008 football season ended with a resounding thud on Saturday night as Orange Coast College dropped its sixth straight game, 50-46, to Long Beach City College at LeBard Stadium.

LBCC's Chris Williams hauled in a 32-yard touchdown pass from Josh Powell with 13 seconds left to lift the Vikings (4-6, 1-5 in SCFA National Division) to the comeback win. OCC (4-6, 0-6) led 33-14 at the half and 46-43 with 1:56 left in the game, but it wasn't enough.

The Vikings amassed 660 yards of total offense, led by Powell (25-of-41, 519 yards, five touchdowns, one interception) and Stephen Burton (248 receiving yards, 82 rushing yards, five touchdowns).

Both offenses were in control of this game as the Pirates racked up 521 yards of their own, including a season-best 262 on the ground, led by running back Ray Holley (15 carries, 144 yards, one touchdown) and quarterback Taylor Hughes (seven carries, 84 yards, one TD).

Hughes wrapped up his two-year career at Coast with a solid performance, throwing for 259 yards and four touchdowns on 17-of-32 passing with one interception. It was an impressive season for Hughes, who finished with 1,992 passing yards (fourth-most in one season in OCC history) and 17 touchdowns (third-most in OCC history) in just over nine games (eight starts).

Sophomore teammate Cameron Hall led the receiving corps with 81 yards and two scores on eight catches.

With a 33-14 halftime lead, things looked good for the Pirates, but LBCC came back in a hurry, thanks to two touchdowns within the first 3:30 of the third quarter.

Despite the flurry by the Vikings, OCC still led 39-31 after three quarters, but another pair of Long Beach touchdowns (with two missed 2-point attempts) gave the guests a 43-39 lead with 5:38 remaining.

On OCC's next possession a key 21-yard run by Holley, combined with a 15-yard personal foul on the Vikings, gave the Pirates the ball on the LBCC 10-yard line. Three plays later, Hughes hooked up with Hall on a 6-yard TD strike, giving the Pirates a 49-46 lead with 1:56 left.

On the Vikings' next possession a pair of big plays doomed the Pirates. On third-and-6 from the LBC 24, Powell connected with Burton on a 33-yard strike, putting the Vikings in Pirate territory. After a Powell-to-Reggie Richardson completion put the ball on OCC's 25, a pair of sacks by Coast's Jimmy Keating and the combination of Dean DeLeone and Christian Bonsall pushed the ball back to the Pirates' 32 with 20 seconds remaining.

On the next play, Powell rolled left and appeared to pass the line of scrimmage as he attempted a pass, but no flag was thrown and the ball landed in the hands of Williams for a 32-yard TD, giving the Vikings the lead for good.

Down to one final play and eight seconds, Hughes connected with Hall on an eight-yard catch. Then, Hall threw the ball across the field to a streaking Hughes, but the Corona del Mar High School grad could only make it to the Vikings' 28 before being knocked out of bounds as time expired.

The 96 combined points between the two schools is the most in one game in OCC history, breaking the previous-high mark of 94 set in 2000 against Santa Ana in triple-overtime (OCC 53, SAC 41). The 46 points in a loss is also a record, topping the previous-high of 35, done three different times (2000, 1999 and 1985).