Just no holding that Tiger

Tony Altobelli

RIVERSIDE - The bye week for Orange Coast College’s football team

couldn’t come quick enough, as the Pirates lost to host Riverside, 48-15,

Saturday night in nonconference action.

“We’ve lost that magic that we had at the beginning of the season,”

Coach Mike Taylor said. “But that’s gonna happen throughout a long

season. We now have to regroup and move on. When it rains, it pours, I

guess.”

The extra week to open Mission Conference Northern Division will not

only help the Pirates’ wounded crew, but will also give Taylor a chance

to find a way to stem the overflow of points being given up the past

three weeks.

“We had some trouble in our secondary, giving up the big play and our

offensive line had a tough night as well,” Taylor said. “Riverside has

some great athletes over there and they showed their skills tonight.”

The win was the Tigers’ first of the season and they did it by taking

advantage of the big play. Five of Riverside’s seven touchdowns were on

plays of 30 yards or longer.

Two of their players, Marshall Johnson and Reggie Williams only

touched the ball nine times and the duo combined for 269 rushing and

receiving yards and five touchdowns for the Tigers (1-4).

Similar to last year’s defensive battle, both teams actually had

trouble finding the end zone as Riverside led, 7-3, near the end of the

first half.

The Pirates (2-3) had first-and-goal opportunities twice in the first

half and managed to score only three points.

Riverside made it 14-3 on a couple of jump-ball-type passes that

managed to land in the arms of Tigers’ receivers, one of which was in the

end zone.

“Our guys were getting spun around and Riverside managed to make the

plays as we were still looking for the ball,” Taylor said.

Taylor brought in injured running backs Raymond Ohrel and Jimmie Banks

to try to keep the game close.

Ohrel had 73 second-half rushing and receiving yards, while Banks

added 28 yards on the ground, but it wasn’t enough.

“We tried to use them as a way to spark the offense, but it takes more

than two guys to get the job done,” Taylor said. “I was proud of those

guys playing through the injuries.”

The Tigers blew the game open in the third quarter, scoring

21-straight points before OCC could get on the scoreboard again.

That came on a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by James

Dawkins, one of the few bright spots for the Bucs on the night.

That bright spot was short-lived, as the Tigers scored again 32

seconds later.

After another Tigers’ score, OCC capped off the scoring with a 46-yard

pass from quarterback Jared Flint to David Castleton.

Flint managed to complete 15 of 23 passes for 178 yards, despite six

sacks, four near-sacks and constant harassment from the Tigers’ defense.

“He’s a tough kid, that’s for sure,” Taylor said of Flint. “He’s

really come a long way. He wasn’t complaining or pointing fingers out

there. He was just trying to make the best of the situation.”

After the bye week, OCC will host Cerritos Saturday, Oct. 23 at 1 p.m.

“We’ve got five killer games ahead of us,” Taylor said. “Our guys will

battle back and if we get healthy, who knows?”