Pirates, Hornets renew a long-standing rivalry

Bryce Alderton

Scores of 8-0 and 6-2 look more like the results from a baseball

game than from two football contests.

But those were the scores from the Orange Coast College football

team’s “mud bowl” game Saturday, an 8-0 loss to Santa Ana at the

Santa Ana Bowl, and Fullerton dropping a 6-2 decision to Golden West

at LeBard Stadium under similar soggy conditions.

Both teams come into today’s 5 p.m. start at Fullerton High School

reeling. Coast (3-5, 1-2) has lost its last two Mission Conference

Central Division games and Fullerton (2-6, 0-3 in conference) has

dropped its last three conference games.

Today’s game will be the 53rd meeting between the two schools with

Fullerton holding a 30-19-3 edge. The Hornets have won the last two

games by scores of 47-35 in 2000 and 39-16 last season.

The Pirates are tied with Golden West for third in the conference

while Fullerton is last.

Orange Coast Coach Mike Taylor hopes his team can put what he

called, “the mud bowl game blues” aside and focus on the task at

hand.

“It was a game we should have won,” said Taylor, commenting on

Saturday’s loss to the Dons. “We had a touchdown called back on a

motion penalty (a 75-yard run by tailback Niles Mittasch) and during

the goal line play we didn’t block properly and Niles didn’t score.”

Coast had the ball to start its first drive of the second quarter

with the score tied 0-0 at the Don 6-yard line following a Santa Ana

punt and got to the 1-inch line on third down, but the Dons stopped

the Pirates and OCC never threatened to score again.

“We score there and it’s a totally different football game,”

Taylor said. “But Santa Ana played well and obviously the field was a

big equalizer. I don’t see rain in the forecast for Saturday and

expect a hard, fast field.”

Both offenses have been struggling. Coast hasn’t scored an

offensive touchdown in 10 quarters and has scored six points combined

in two losses the last two weeks while Fullerton has managed just 16

points in its last three contests, all losses. The Bucs rank second

to last (11th) in the conference in total offense, averaging almost

259 yards per game while Fullerton grabs the ninth spot with 281.

“They have kind of been anemic on offense like us,” Taylor said.

“Both teams need to start running it up.”

Taylor expects Fullerton to feature some quarterback draw plays

from starter Tom Kirchmeyer, who ranks eighth in the conference in

passing yards per game with 136.9. The Pirates’ Derek Aspinwall sits

at 12th, averaging 99.9 yards per game.

Linebacker Andy Howe, who’s been sidelined three weeks with a

meniscus tear, will play today, confirmedTaylor.