OCC wipes out in Beach Bowl

COSTA MESA — Orange Coast College coach Mike Taylor knew it wouldn’t be easy holding onto the Bell for a third straight year.

“When these two teams get together you can throw records out the window,” Taylor said after Golden West pulled off a 20-13 upset over its rival Saturday.

Records were thrown out indeed, as 2-8 Golden West shocked the 7-3 Pirates in a Mission Conference National Division finale.

With 3:20 remaining, Golden West quarterback Les Obie found Dan Delahoussaye for an 80-yard strike that gave the Rustlers (1-4 in division) the victory.

“I didn’t expect them to make a long pass, but I give him credit for making a nice play,” Taylor said.

Golden West came into the game having lost eight in row. The Pirates (2-3 in division), on the other hand, were poised for a playoff berth after winning their last two conference games and seven of nine on the year.

With one play, OCC’s playoff hopes were washed away.

The Pirates, who entered ranked No. 6 in Southern California, were seeking a win to make a push into the Mission Conference playoffs. But the Rustlers ended that hope in the 39th meeting between the two teams in a game that was renamed the Beach Bowl.

OCC will still receive a bowl bid, said Taylor, who is on the bowls committee. The Pirates will learn their fate today after a bowl meeting in Sacramento.

If they do continue onto the postseason, they’ll want to forget about Saturday, when they couldn’t get their offense on track. Actually, it seemed that neither team really wanted it early on as both offenses seemed unimpressive.

With 12:16 left in the second quarter, Obie ran it in from five yards out to put the Rustlers on top 7-0.

The Pirates looked to cut into Golden West’s lead, but Brock Jaramillo pushed a 37-yard field goal attempt wide right.

After the miss, OCC’s defense stepped up to get the ball back in the offenses’ hands when Shaun Mohler, the team leader in tackles, teamed up with Jason Carpenter for an 11 yard sack of the Rustlers’ quarterback.

Driving down for a score before the half, the Pirates rolled the dice on a fourth down and five from the 13-yard line when Kekoa Crowell rolled out right, then turned left to find A.J. Moskus for the first down. Crowell would punch it in untouched on the next play, but a missed extra point sent OCC into halftime down 7-6.

Before the rain started to fall, Golden West scored the only points of the third quarter on a 27-yard field goal by Aaron Pines.

Despite turning the ball over five times — four fumbles, one interception — the Pirates took the lead with 12:03 remaining in the fourth quarter when Mohler jarred the ball loose on a sack and Winter Welz picked it up and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown putting OCC up 13-10.

Golden West then tied the game on a Jake Lipton field goal and went ahead for good on the Delahoussaye touchdown.

The Pirates had one last chance to tie the game but an offensive pass interference call in the end zone set them too far back.

“We made way too many mistakes to get a chance to win, they made the plays and they deserved it,” Taylor said. “We didn’t play well enough, sadly.”