Football: Pirates close season tonight

Tony Altobelli

TORRANCE - Orange Coast College’s football team wraps up its season

tonight in Torrance against El Camino with an opportunity to accomplish a

lot of “firsts” for the Bucs and their players.

A win for the Pirates (4-5, 2-2 in conference) over El Camino would

be the first since 1973 over El Camino and would snap an 11-game losing

streak to the Warriors.

“We haven’t beaten them since I’ve been here,” Coach Mike Taylor said.

“We’ve come close a couple of times, including a bowl game in 1990, but

we haven’t been able to knock them off.”

A win would also give the Pirates a .500 overall record for the first

time sine 1993, when they finished the season 8-3.

With 267 passing yards, quarterback Jared Flint would become the new

all-time single-season passing leader, breaking Keith Jarrett’s 1987 mark

of 2,524. He currently stands at 2,257.

To accomplish all of these firsts, the Pirates must find a way to stop

the No. 1 offense in the Northern Division and find a way to break

through the No. 2 defense in the entire Mission Conference.

When discussing the Warriors’ offense, freshman quarterback Robert

Hodge will be at the top of OCC’s priority chart.

Hodge has thrown for a conference-best 2,481 yards with 21 touchdowns

thrown for the Warriors (6-3, 3-1).

Not just one-dimensional, Hodge has also rushed for 351 yards,

combining for over 300 yards a game in total offense.

“He’s definitely the guy that makes their offense work,” Taylor said.

“He can really run and he can really throw. He’s probably the most

versatile quarterback we’ve faced all season.”

Perhaps the best way the Pirates can stop Hodge is to keep him off the

field. That’s where the offense of the Bucs comes into the picture.

“We’re going to have to control the ball right from the get-go,”

Taylor said. “We can’t go three-and-out and take a million snaps on

defense and expect to win.”

When he’s not rushing for the Warriors, Hodge’s favorite targets are

sophomore wide receivers Charon Arnold (39 catches for 740 yards and nine

touchdowns) and Robert Drewery (47 catches for 709 yards and four

touchdowns).

The Warriors’ ground game has been evenly spread out with Hodge,

sophomores Sunny Byrd (423 yards, five TDs), Darin Pope (367 yards, 1 TD)

and Xavier Hanson (267 yards, four TDs).

The Warriors have had lapses in dominance, including a 14-7 loss to

Saddleback and a 38-31 setback to Santa Ana, but have also shown

brilliance, with wins over Palomar, 56-45, Pasadena City, 66-7, and

Cerritos, 28-27.

“Offensively, I think they’re even better than Mt. San Antonio, so

we’re definitely gonna have our hands full,” Taylor said.

Last year, the Pirates lost to the Warriors, 50-20, behind 714 net

yards of offense by El Camino.

In the game, Raymond Ohrel became the first OCC player to tally over

300 all-purpose yards since Bart Rechtenwald’s 344-yard performance in

1987 against San Diego Mesa.

Ohrel had 200 yards on kickoff returns, 87 rushing yards and 15

reception yards for a total of 302, with two touchdowns.