Bucs slay Dons

Bryce Alderton

Orange Coast College freshman defensive back Ryan Cronkite dropped

back in coverage, read the quarterback and intercepted the pass, but

the excitement was just beginning. Cronkite, a reserve, scooted

toward the far sideline and with a couple of blockers paving the way,

returned it 65 yards as time expired, capping a dominant performance

by the host Coast football team in a 36-6 Mission Conference victory

over previously undefeated Santa Ana in front of about 450 spectators

in LeBard Stadium Saturday night.

Cronkite’s interception was Coast’s fourth in a game that featured

a poised, confident and sound OCC team that let its play do the

talking.

“I’m excited,” Coast freshman defensive lineman Justin Williams

said. “People that don’t usually get a chance to play are earning

starting spots. Guys are giving the most they’ve got.” Williams

caused and recovered a fumble in his first game back from a sprained

knee he suffered in a 30-7 loss to Saddleback Sept. 20.

Coast’s defensive front had two tackles making their first starts

of the season in place of injuries to Nick Moghaddam (Newport Harbor

High) and Jesse Mahelona, the touted sophomore who will most likely

miss the rest of the season with a broken metatarsal in his right

foot.

But the injuries hardly hampered the Pirates (3-2, 1-2 in

conference), who held Santa Ana’s Dartangan Johnson, Newport Harbor’s

career rushing leader, to 66 yards on 20 carries, an average of 3.3

per carry. Johnson came into the game averaging 165 yards per game,

but was stuffed by a fierce Pirate front four.

“We are really restricted because Jesse is out,” freshman

defensive tackle Ryan Davis said. “We can’t sit back because we are

sore. Everyone deals with [pain] and gives their best.”

“Everyone accounted for themselves,” Williams said when asked how

they held Johnson in check. “Everyone played their hardest and got

the job done.”

Coast held Santa Ana (4-1, 2-1) to 166 yards of offense while

amassing 282. The Pirates, already the best defense in the conference

against the pass, held Don quarterbacks to just 42 yards through the

air.

Saturday’s win eased Coast Coach Mike Taylor’s mood.

“Tim Ioane had a sack and he started dancing like the guys he sees

each Sunday [in the NFL],” Taylor said. “We are like animals. They

stay together when wounded. I guess we are the wounded Pirates.”

And more disciplined Pirates. After committing 16 penalties for 157 yards in last week’s 24-9 loss to Fullerton, Coast had just six

flags called for 75 yards Saturday.

“It’s like your own kids. You put restrictions on them, but you

can only do that [so] much,” Taylor said. “The kids were all

conscious of the last two weeks and the kids that made mistakes have

apologized.”

The Dons were sorry they ran into the Bucs’ stingy pass defense.

Davis was one of four Pirates to intercept Dons’ passers. Free

safety Nick Dominelli added his fourth interception in five games

when he stepped in front of a receiver on a crossing pattern to catch

the ball thrown by Santa Ana starter Cory Campbell. Coast tallied 121

yards in interception returns.

Sophomore linebacker Andy Howe was the fortunate recipient of an

under-thrown pass from Campbell and returned the ball 28 yards to the

Santa Ana 11-yard line to set up OCC’s second touchdown, a 7-yard run

by Coast starting quarterback Kelika Higa with six minutes, 44

seconds remaining in the first half, giving the hosts a 13-0 lead.

Higa ran 13 times for 34 yards with two rushing touchdowns.

He completed 8 of 16 passes for 93 yards and no interceptions in

place of Beau Budde, who is out for the rest of the season with a

torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

Coast came into Saturday’s game with only five offensive

touchdowns, but had four against the Dons.

OCC tailback Josh Black had 18 carries for 102 yards, including a

1-yard touchdown to cap a six-play drive for Coast to begin the third

quarter. The Pirates led 20-0.

Freshman tailback Jamel Foreman (five carries for 14 yards) added

a 7-yard TD burst that capped a 10-play, 47-yard drive that consumed

nearly five minutes and gave Coast a commanding 30-6 lead with 1:05

left. Davis’ interception set up the drive.

Davis came out of last week’s game with a strained medial

collateral ligament in his left knee.

“The tight end was on the right side so I just dropped back,”

Davis recalled of the sequence leading to the interception. “The ball

was there and I got it.”

With the win Coast gained a 27-25 advantage in the all-time series

against the Dons, but more importantly, stopped a two-game losing

streak heading into the bye week.

“In the last four years, we’ve always been 2-3 at this point,”

Taylor said. “We need to have five more games like this.”

“We needed to step up,” Williams said.