OCC still searching for QB

Steve Virgen

As the Orange Coast College football team prepares for its

scrimmage at Santa Monica next week, the Pirates have one important

question to answer: Who will be the starting quarterback?

That question was left unanswered after the Pirates played in an

inter-squad scrimmage Saturday. The offense ran 60 plays against the

defense, with no score being kept.

The OCC defense was the buzz of the scrimmage, which made the

quarterback situation all the more hazy. Sophomore Jason Kripavicius

is perhaps the leading candidate. He played as a back-up to Nick

Higgs last year. Higgs transferred to Southwest Missouri State to

reunite with his high school and OCC teammate Justin Dale.

Freshman Derek Aspinwall led the first-team offense, but he said

not to put too much stock into that. OCC Coach Mike Taylor agreed.

“Until we look at the film, I’m not sure where we’re at (with our

quarterbacks),” Taylor said. “The kids have all been working hard.

Without a returning starter, it’s a little bit of a crapshoot. We’ll

probably rotate the quarterbacks with the first team next week. We’re

just trying to find out who’s who.”

Aspinwall (6-foot-1, 170 pounds), gray shirted with the Pirates

last year. He has quick feet and a quick release. He displayed rhythm

during the scrimmage when he sold a fake handoff and found tight end

Justin Rose for an 8-yard completion.

Freshman Kenny Valbuena (6-foot-4, 230) also saw some action and

made what Taylor called, “a big play.” He delivered a tight-spiral

pass on a line for about 25 yards to freshman Coleman Menke, who

played high school football with Aspinwall at Great Falls High in

Montana.

Yet, for the most part, the defense controlled the flow.

Linebacker Andy Howe darted through the offensive line and made a

textbook tackle on running back Sam Weicks. It was a hard hit that

energized the defense. Defensive back Nick Dominelli, a transfer from

Saddleback College, also stuffed several running plays.

“The team speed is the strength (on defense),” said Taylor, who is

also the defensive coordinator. “Our corners and safeties are very

good. We’re good at linebacker. Andy Howe played well today. We just

have to stay healthy and stay excited. We need to play the game the

way it’s supposed to be played. We got away from that a little bit a

year ago. We played four quarters, but we played some games where we

got blown out. There’s going to be some direction needed.”

The Pirates’ defense was without a key player throughout most of

the scrimmage. Sophomore Dan Steinau, an All-Mission Conference

second-team linebacker last year, injured his knee early on. Taylor

said the injury is not serious and Steinau, who led OCC in tackles

(118), plans to be ready for the opener, Sept. 14 vs. East Los

Angeles.

Sophomore tailback Niles Mittasch, an All-Mission Conference

second-team selection last year, showed the Pirates’ most effective

weapon: the running game. In plays 20-30, Mittasch broke off

consecutive runs of 8 and 25 yards. His 8-yard rumble was a gritty

run, as he pumped his legs fighting off two tackles and drawing a

facemask penalty.

Aside from that, the OCC defense stole the show. Defensive backs

Dominelli, Adrian Calloway and Una Latu brought confidence to Taylor,

as they came up for the run and had the proper technique in coverage.

Freshman Jesse Mahelona, a 6-2, 280-pound defensive tackle, and

sophomore James Canetti (6-4, 287) were also huge factors in stuffing

the running game.

“(The OCC offense) didn’t do very well,” said Doug Smith, the

Pirates’ first-year offensive coordinator. Smith, a 14-year year NFL veteran who earned six trips to the Pro Bowl with the Los Angeles

Rams, was the offensive line coach with Kurt Clemens the past two

years.

“We had some (quarterback-center) exchange problems,” Smith said.

“Our defense played well. When they blitzed we didn’t take advantage

of that. There are only a few quarterbacks good at the hot

adjustments. We still need to work with that. We have been working

four (quarterbacks) and worked a fifth one (Saturday). We want to

narrow it down to two, for next week.”