Left in the mire

Bryce Alderton

Several Santa Ana College football players dove head first into

the muddy turf of Santa Ana Bowl following a game where the sloppy

sod played as much of a factor as anything.

Santa Ana won its second Mission Conference Central Division

football game, 8-0, over an Orange Coast College squad (3-5, 1-2 in

the Mission Central Conference) whose offense continued to sputter.

Santa Ana’s special teams proved the difference for the Dons in a

game dictated by field position and defense.

Orange Coast managed just 16 yards on the ground and through the

air combined and had only two first downs, one on a 14-yard run by

tailback Niles Mittasch, and the other coming on a penalty. Coast had

14 rushing yards and 2 passing yards by quarterback Derek Aspinwall.

The Pirates haven’t scored an offensive touchdown in 10 quarters.

Santa Ana (2-6, 2-1 in conference) stuck to the running of Waymon

Livingston (28 carries for 60 yards) and quarterback Cory Campbell

(16 for 25) to gain 98 yards on the ground and Campbell threw for 3

yards on three attempts.

“I thought our ability to run the football might give us an

advantage,” OCC Coach Mike Taylor said. “(Santa Ana) stopped our

running game, they outplayed us. The field was an equalizer that both

teams had to play in. It could have been 0-0 until (this morning).”

The Dons got their first points on a break, when a high snap

sailed over the head of Orange Coast punter Bryce Sheridan and rolled

into the end zone. Sheridan kicked the ball out of bounds to concede

two points instead of allowing Santa Ana the chance to recover for a

TD.

Corey Chatman then took the second-half kickoff 85 yards for a

touchdown and after a failed kick, the Dons had an 8-0 lead they

wouldn’t relinquish.

“The kickoff in the second half hurt us but I was more

disappointed because we couldn’t move the ball consistently,” Taylor

said.

Mittasch and Steven Mahelona carried the bulk of OCC’s ground

assault with 10 and 37 yards, respectively, while Andrew Bergstetter

ran once for 6 yards. But the high snap, along with two sacks and

four runs stopped behind the line of scrimmage, limited Coast’s ball

movement.

Coast twice had fourth-and-inches, but the Dons’ defense stopped

the Pirates both times.

The Pirates’ best scoring chance came on Coast’s first drive of

the second quarter after Dan Hawkey took a punt at his own 33 and

scampered 27 yards to the Dons’ 6. Mahelona drove to inside the

1-yard line on second-and-goal from the 5, but the Dons’ defense

stepped up with stops on Mahelona and Mittasch on the ensuing two

plays.

A 75-yard run by Miattasch for an apparent TD was wiped out by a

personal foul penalty.