Orange Coast College

Pirates improve to 4-0 with win over Pasadena

Saturday, September 23, 2006

COSTA MESA - The Pirates set up their big plays on offense with a bunch of little plays and it paid off big time.
Following several screen passes to start the game, Pirate quarterback Kekoa Crowell took advantage of an overzealous Pasadena defense and threw for 226 yards and four touchdowns in Saturday night's 42-29 win over the visiting Lancers at LeBard Stadium.
The win propelled the Pirates to their first 4-0 start since 1991, when they started the season 5-0.
The Bucs' quarterback spread the passing success throughout the receiving corps. Damola Adeniji caugh

t five passes for 56 yards and two touchdowns, A.J. Moskus caught four passes for 103 yards and one touchdown and Nathan Barnett added a 28-yard touchdown grab for his lone catch of the night.
Once again, Andrew Banks was the Pirates' workhorse on the ground, rushing for 91 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.
Pasadena quarterback David Pittman threw for 317 yards and three touchdowns on 23-of-35 passing, but four interceptions loomed large in the Lancers' defeat. Pittman's go-to-guys included Trent Yancy (seven catches, 144 yards, two touchdowns), David Reed (5-72, one TD) and Nicholas Rhodes (3-66, one TD). Running back Terrick Pearsall even got into the show with a touchdown pass of his own.
OCC set the tone from the opening drive, grinding out a 16-play, 62-yard scoring drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Crowell to Moskus.
Pasadena (2-2) managed just one possession for just over a minute of the first quarter as the Pirates intercepted a Pittman pass just three plays into their first drive.
From there, OCC milked another 10-play drive and although the Pirates were stopped at the Lancers' 2-yard-line on fourth down, field position and momentum were both on the Pirates' side.
Following a Chris Holmesly interception for OCC, the Bucs needed just four plays to take a 14-0 lead when Crowell hit Adeniji for a 6-yard TD pass.
Pasadena answered with a touchdown of its own to make it 14-7, but a nice kickoff return by Nathan Barnett gave OCC the ball on the Lancers' side of the field. Two plays later, Crowell again hooked up with Adeniji for a 24-yard TD connection to give OCC a 21-7 lead at the half.
After the Pirate defense shut down Pasadena on the first drive of the second half, OCC made it 28-7 on a 7-yard touchdown run by Banks midway through the third quarter and the Pirates never looked back.
OCC will travel to Riverside for a 5 p.m. showdown with the Tigers on Saturday, Sept. 30.