Football: BUCS SPOOK LANCERS

Tony Altobelli

PASADENA - Orange Coast College skipper Mike Taylor described his

football team as a team that has to score 28 points a game to win.

How right he was.

On the eve of Halloween, the Pirates rose from the dead with two late

touchdowns to shock Pasadena City, 29-26, in a game filled with more

surprises than a haunted house.

“It was a game where the last team standing would win,” a relieved

Taylor said. “It was a great effort on our part, with two teams slugging

it out like two heavyweights. It’s a nice Halloween present.”

It appeared that Pasadena City (4-3, 0-2 in conference) delivered the

final knockout punch to the Pirates after taking a 26-14 lead with 3:54

remaining, but OCC managed to weave some magic in the end.

On third down, quarterback Jared Flint connected with David Castleton

with a life-restoring 51-yard touchdown pass, pulling the Bucs (3-4, 1-1)

to within five at 26-21.

After OCC’s defense, which played well all night, stopped the Lancers,

the Pirates regained the ball on their own 20-yard line with 2:16 left.

With the Lancers’ defense constantly in the face of Flint, he managed

to scramble and connected with Raymond Ohrel for a juggling, 59-yard

catch and run, which gave OCC the ball on the Lancers’ 11-yard line.

“Jared showed tremendous effort in the end with Pasadena sending

everyone at him,” Taylor said. “He did a good job to improvise and make

the plays he needed to make.”

After a 5-yard Lancer penalty, three plays resulted in six yards and

on fourth-and-five, Flint managed to find Ben Fredrickson in the back of

the end zone with 58 seconds left, for the game-winning score.

OCC managed to keep the Lancers off the scoreboard the final minute to

win for the first time since joining the Northern Division a year ago.

“I’m happy for the players and the coaches who have been busting their

butts all season long,” Taylor said. “It’s been a tough last few weeks

and to pull together and come up with a win was very special.

Flint, after starting the game 1 for 10, was 24 for 49 for 323 yards

and three touchdowns.

His 24 completions tied the all-time school record set by Keith

Jarrett in 1987 against Santa Ana College. His 49 attempts was one shy of

Alvin White’s mark of 50 set in 1972 against Mt. San Antonio College.

“He managed to dodge some heavy bullets out there,” Taylor said. “They

were bringing nine in the box and when that happens, you have to take

what the defense gives you.”

With Flint dodging bullets, Ohrel took a few, but managed to get up

and set the school record with 14 catches for 134 yards and a touchdown

as well as rushing for 30 yards on 11 carries with an additional

touchdown.

“His heart is as big as his chest,” Taylor said of his sophomore

back/receiver. “Whatever school gets him next year is going to have one

special player.”

Fredrickson, had six catches for 106 yards, including the game-winning

touchdown, while Castleton had three receptions for 71 yards and a TD.

Both teams managed to put up some tremendous numbers offensively,

combining for nearly 1,000 yards in offense.

However, both teams managed to shoot themselves in the foot, combining

for 25 penalties for 234 yards.

“It was a very emotional game on both sides so that’s bound to

happen,” Taylor said of the penalties.

A key to the Pirates success was their field position, which was due

largely to the kicking of freshman Eddie Johnson, who averaged over 40

yards per kick on seven attempts.

“He was kicking some boomers tonight,” Taylor said. “He did a great

job of pinning them back, which allowed us to get excellent field

position.

Next up for the Pirates is Long Beach City College Saturday at 7 p.m.

“It’s our homecoming game and it’s going to be another tough battle,”

Taylor said. “It will be nice going into that game with a win under our

belts. We’ll have another solid week of practice and we’ll be ready to

go.”