Orange Coast College

HIGH FIVE: Pirates rally to stun Tigers for fifth straight win

Saturday, September 30, 2006

RIVERSIDE - It's a good thing that the bye week has arrived for the Orange Coast College football team because it may take two full weeks to totally digest Saturday's 23-21 comeback road win over Riverside on Saturday night.

Here's the easy-to-swallow capsule form ...

Controlling the game early on, the Pirates saw their hard work evaporate when the Tigers turned an interception and blocked punt into two touchdowns, turning a 10-0 advantage into a 14-10 RCC lead.

The sorrow turned to jubilation when George Raco turned a harmless-looking screen pass into a 76-yard touchdown early in the fourth to give the Pirates the lead once again, 17-14.

That jubilation returned to sorrow when, following an OCC field goal, Riverside scored its lone offensive touchdown with 1:09 left in the game to take a 21-20 lead.

That sorrow turned into Pirate pandemonium when Brock Jaramillo (pictured left against Santa Monica) ripped a 45-yard field goal in the game's final 4 seconds to cap off a contest that had more twists and turns than a pretzel factory.

In the first quarter, OCC (5-0) controlled things on both sides of the ball as 12-play, 69-yard drive was capped off with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Kekoa Crowell to Nathan Barnett. The pass bounced off a RCC defender right to Barnett and he raced to the end zone for 7-0 lead.
Following a second three-and-out for the Pirate defense, OCC again methodically ate up yardage and clock with an 11-play drive, but the drive stalled out of field goal range and yielded no points.
The Tigers' first four drives totaled 13 plays and four punts, while the Pirates racked up 42 plays in four drives. However that 42nd play for OCC resulted in a Crowell interception to Shane McComb, who returned it 54 yards for a touchdown and suddenly, it was just a 10-7 lead for the Pirates.
After spending the first half trying to throw for yardage, the Tigers (2-3) went to the ground and found success, grinding out an 11-play, 75-yard drive. But, when they took to the air, quarterback Daniel Millus' pass was picked off by Chris Holmesly in the end zone and the Pirates held on to the lead.
That lead lasted four plays longer as a C.J. Santiago punt was blocked, recovered and returned for a touchdown by A.J. Scott. Despite a defensive domination by the Pirates, they found themselves trailing 14-10 heading into the fourth quarter.
On their first series of the fourth, Crowell hit Raco with a screen pass and, thanks to a key block by Damola Adeniji, raced up the sideline practically untouched for a 76-yard touchdown, giving OCC the lead once again, 17-14.
After a Bubba Reynolds' interception halted the next RCC drive, Orange Coast looked to ice the game with another clock-draining drive. A 12-play, 52-yard drive took 6:17 off of the clock, but it resulted in just a 22-yard Jaramillo field goal, keeping the Tigers within a touchdown of taking the lead.
Four plays and 68 yards later, the Tigers did just that as Richard Murrell raced into the end zone from 5-yards out. Following a successful point-after attempt, the Tigers had a 21-20 lead with 1:09 left.
A 23-yard kickoff return by Holmesly gave the Pirates the ball on their own 39-yard line with 58 seconds left and two timeouts.
OCC went to several quick screen passes toward the sideline to slowly move up the field. Crowell went 6-for-7 on the drive as the Pirates got to the Tigers' 28 with 4 seconds left.
That set the stage for Jaramillo's heroics. Following a nice recovery of a low snap by placeholder Chris Assily, Jaramillo ripped a low laser that split the up-rights, sending the Pirate players, coaches and fans into a frenzy.
Crowell finished with 212 yards passing and two touchdowns on 16-of-28 passing.
Lost in the shuffle was another strong performance from freshman running back Andrew Banks, who rushed for 121 yards on 30 carries.
It's the first 5-0 start for the Pirates since 1991 and the first win at Riverside since that same year.
Following this week's bye, the Pirates will open up Mission Conference National Division action at El Camino on Oct. 14, beginning at 6 p.m.