Dons demolish Pirates, 52-6

Tony Altobelli

SANTA ANA - Santa Ana College’s Cameron King played like “King

Cameron” holding court Saturday and sending Orange Coast College to the

racks with 226 yards rushing and three touchdowns in the Dons’ 52-6

blowout of the visiting Pirates.

In a game decided by halftime, the Pirates (2-1) could not find an

answer for the sophomore running back, nor could they overcome two lost

fumbles and two interceptions.

“Like there are team wins, this was a team loss,” Coach Mike Taylor

said after suffering his first coaching loss at OCC. “We were outplayed

from the get-go in all positions and we never could recover.”

Things started rough for the Pirates after a 71-yard lost punt in the

sun placed the Bucs on their own 1-yard line.

Alex Romero tackled running back Raymond Ohrel in the end zone on the

first play, giving the Dons (1-2) the ball back and a 2-0 lead.

After a poor free kick put the ball at midfield, King took over,

scoring four plays later on a 37-yard run, making the score, 9-0 before

either team could work up a sweat in the Santa Ana sun.

“Santa Ana is a good ball club and I knew they would rebound from

their slow start this season,” Taylor said. “Now it’s our turn to see

what we’re made of this upcoming week.”

The Pirates’ lone score came with three minutes remaining in the first

quarter on a nine-play, 87-yard drive that resulted on a 1-yard touchdown run by Ohrel, cutting the Dons’ lead to 9-6.

The key play on the scoring drive was a 51-yard bomb from quarterback

Jared Flint to David Castleton.

King came through again for Santa Ana, scoring on a 27-yard run on the

following drive. He had 91 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns in the

first quarter alone.

Flint, who had time to pick apart Saddleback’s defense last week in a

42-25 win, was in a constant hurry the entire game, resulting in five

sacks and numerous scrambles out of the pocket.

He managed to complete 16 of 29 passes for 169 yards, but had an

interception returned 63 yards for a Santa Ana touchdown.

The Dons managed to score touchdowns on four if their first six

possessions, not including the safety and the interception return.

“When you’re doing well, you sometimes don’t feel too much of the

pressure,” Taylor said. “But once you get your faces smacked around, like

we did today, it gives you a little wake up call.”

Castleton had 66 receiving yards and Ohrel had 65 to lead the

Pirates, who have now lost five of their last six games in the Santa Ana

Bowl.

The Dons were able to completely shut the Pirates’ running game,

limiting them to only 47 total yards on the ground.

Dons quarterback Grant Wagner was 10 for 17 with 189 yards, including

a 47-yard touchdown to Jeremiah Armendariz.

The game got slightly out of hand for both teams in the fourth quarter

as unsportsmanlike conduct penalties began to pile up. Both teams

combined for 18 penalties for 149 yards.

It doesn’t get any easier for the Bucs as they try to look ahead to

next week, when No. 1 ranked Palomar comes to town Saturday at 1 p.m.

“We’ll see what were made of this week,” Taylor said.