Time for a reload

Bryce Alderton

Though it took a few days to get rid of the sting from a 43-6

Mission Conference Central Division loss to 6-1 Palomar Saturday,

Orange Coast College head football coach Mike Taylor knows his team

will be ready once the Pirates, 3-4, 1-1 in conference, and Santa

Ana, 1-6, 1-1 in conference, duke it out today at the Santa Ana Bowl

at 1 p.m.

“Guys were feeling sorry for themselves at the beginning of the

week but they came to practice (Wednesday) more spirited,” Taylor

said. “It takes a couple days to get out the disappointment. We

talked about what transpired in the game such as the big plays that

went against us and looked at some of the good things we did against

Palomar. But you can’t dwell on (the previous game) very long,”

Santa Ana comes off a 27-23 win over Golden West last week in

which freshman 200-pound running back Dache Dameron ran for 195 yards

on a school-record 38 carries and scored twice, and sophomore wide

receiver Darren Wagoner caught six passes for 123 yards and a TD.

Wagner ranks second in the Mission Conference with 500 reception

yards. Palomar’s Eddie Sullivan leads the conference with 545 yards

in seven games.

Coast quarterback Derek Aspinwall, ranks 10th in the conference in

total offensive yards with 793 while Santa Ana quarterback Kelly

Coburn ranks ninth with 803.

Santa Ana ranks 11th in the Mission Conference in total offense,

averaging 282.3 yards per game, while Coast is 10th, gaining 290.4

yards per game.

Even though Santa Ana is 1-6, Taylor isn’t taking anything for

granted.

“They were down 21-7 to Golden West and came back to win so that

shows character,” Taylor said.

“These two schools have been going at it for 50 years so it’s a

big rivalry. We’re going to look for them to run the football because

that’s their strength. We need to be able to force turnovers, stop

the running back and keep the ball ourselves.”

Orange Coast has gone six quarters without an offensive touchdown.

The last offensive score for the Pirates came when Niles Mittasch ran

the ball in from 12 yards to give OCC an 18-0 lead over Golden West

Oct. 26.

With his 83 yards on 13 carries against a tough Palomar defense

last week, Mittasch earned conference Player of the Week honors and

is tied for eighth in the conference in rushing yards per game with

Saddleback’s Darren Shorter, both carrying a 79.4 average.

Though the offensive dry spell concerns Taylor, he remains

confident that by eliminating the turnovers (OCC committed five last

week), Coast can regain its offensive muscle.

Coast defeated the Dons, 20-10, at OCC last season with Mittasch

running for 153 yards and one touchdown.

Sophomore linebacker Andy Howe has a possible meniscus tear in his

knee and will be held out of today’s game, but Taylor said some tape

and determination can keep players with this sort of injury in the

game.

Freshman wide receiver Darrell Walker hurt his shoulder after

being tackled after his 30-yard reception on OCC’s first pass play of

last week’s game and is questionable for today’s game and sophomore

right tackle Stephen Herring will play today after twisting his ankle

in last week’s game.