OCC Football: Taylor-Made

Steve Virgen

CERRITOS - The results were beside the point.

Yes, it was the Strawberry Bowl and that might have been viewed as the

Orange Coast College football team’s biggest game of the season. But,

Pirates’ Coach Mike Taylor had already proved his point two weeks ago

when OCC won its share of the Mission Conference Central Division

championship.

So with Taylor’s Bucs down, 31-3, early in the third quarter Saturday

night, OCC could have just been satisfied with what it had already

accomplished before this bowl game.

Taylor wouldn’t let that happen. The OCC sophomores wouldn’t let it

happen.

The Pirates fought back and showed the testament of their season: one

heartbeat. Though they fell short and Cerritos won the Strawberry Bowl,

31-17, the Pirates made their statement with a hard-fought second half

that put an end to a season which could be the turning point for OCC

football.

“We got here and no one else expected us to,” said OCC linebacker and

defensive captain Dustin Davis. “At least it wasn’t like Fullerton. We

didn’t give up. We played our (butts) off.”

As corny as it may sound, OCC (6-5) had already won before the

Strawberry Bowl. Cerritos (8-3) celebrated with its game trophy on one

side of the field. And the Pirates were on the other side beyond content

because of the genuine relationships that were formed throughout the

season.

“If you look at Cerritos,” OCC wide receiver Justin Dale said. “When

they come out they have 70 guys. They’re big and strong. We just come out

and we have 35-40 guys. We play together and we play hard and you just

can’t beat that. We’re a tough team to beat. We gave them the game in the

first half. But, you just can’t beat this team unity.”

Said freshman quarterback Nick Higgs, “We could have rolled over when

we were down, 31-3, but we didn’t. Just like all season, we didn’t quit

against anybody. This was the greatest season that I have ever had in

football because of how our team played.”

The Pirates suffered a lackluster first half as Cerritos took control

of the game early. Falcons quarterback Doug Baughman, who finished as the

bowl’s Most Valuable Player, picked apart OCC’s defense with short

passes. He finished with 346 yards and three touchdowns on 21-of-33

passing.

The Bucs were down, 24-3, at the break after Cerritos receiver Chris

Chatman made a one-handed 18-yard touchdown reception with 23 seconds

left.

Later, Taylor huddled the players together in the locker room and told

them to play with more intensity.

“I told them to just go out there and play hard,” Taylor said, “...

To have fun and to do what we did to get here.”

Pirates sophomore defensive back Johnnie Peeples also delivered loud

words of encouragement in the locker room during halftime. He told the

players not to be satisfied with just the appearance at a bowl game.

“I told them to play like our theme of one heartbeat,” Peeples said.

“Play like we have been all season, to not give up. In that second half,

we showed up. We showed Cerritos that this wasn’t a fluke team and we

came to play.”

The Bucs allowed just one touchdown in the second half. But, OCC

gained the momentum right after the score.

Higgs led the Pirates to their first touchdown when he connected with

Ben Fredrickson for a 3-yard touchdown pass. The scoring play ignited the

Bucs’ defense.

OCC sent Cerritos three-and-out on its next possession and the Pirates

capitalized when another Fredrickson catch set up a James Dawkins’ 4-yard

touchdown run. But, the Bucs would not score the rest of the way.

After the game, Taylor again huddled his team together and told them

to take a pride in the season. OCC won a share of its first conference

division title in 10 years. The Pirates earned a bowl game for the time

since 1993.

“Winning six games in this division and conference, we haven’t done

that in a number of years,” Taylor said. “Just getting here was

successful. It would have been nice to have won tonight, but I think if

we played better in the second half and had not spotted them so many

points, we could have won the game or at least been in it. But, it’s been

a great season.”