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.”
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