Pirates a step behind Mounties in bowl loss

SANTA MONICA — First, Mt. San Antonio College’s Jake Fadden gave the Orange Coast College secondary something to fear.

Then, the freshman quarterback gave the Pirates something to chase.

Either way, the Pirates (7-4) never quite caught up to the Mounties (9-2), who prevailed, 29-20, in the U.S. Bank Beach Bowl Saturday at Santa Monica College.

Fadden gave the Mounties a quick lead by throwing a 54-yard touchdown bomb to Eric Walker, who had sprinted past OCC cornerback Derrell Perkins, on the second play of the football game.

On Mt. SAC’s third play, Fadden connected with Walker again for a 64-yard strike, as only Walker’s stumble after hauling in the deep pass kept the play from being another touchdown.

The drive ended with a missed 25-yard field goal attempt and OCC capitalized on a muffed punt reception to score with 1:44 left in the first period.

But Fadden went back to work on the second play after the ensuing kickoff, hitting tailback Antonio Williams in stride on a wheel route for a 34-yard gain to the Pirates’ 35-yard line.

Fadden then flipped it to Williams in the flat and he ran over OCC safety Benjamin Soza on his way to a 35-yard touchdown.

Jeremy Gener kicked the conversion to make it 14-6 with one second left in the first quarter.

OCC, which played without sophomore quarterback Kekoa Crowell (injured elbow), answered on its next possession with some aerial fireworks of its own.

Freshman quarterback Chris Debowski, who had completed just five passes coming in, found sophomore wideout Damola Adeniji for a 64-yard gain to the Mounties’ five-yard line. The big play set up a Debowski fade pass to Adeniji for a four-yard score and Debowski threw to George Raco for the two-point conversion to tie the score with 12:19 left in the first half.

That’s how the half ended and Mt. SAC Coach Bob Jastrab sent Fadden out of the halftime locker room with a different plan of attack.

While the Mt. SAC defense, which led the 12-team Mission Conference in fewest rushing yards allowed, was holding the Pirates to just 26 yards on 29 rushing attempts, Fadden utilized the short pass to compile points and consume time.

With the OCC secondary allowing plenty of cushion, Fadden had completions of five, four, six and four yards on a seven-play, 76-yard scoring drive that was aided by an OCC roughing-the-punter penalty.

After OCC had its second three-and-out of the third quarter, Fadden threw for gains of six, nine and 10 yards during a 13-play possession that led to Gener’s 37-yard field goal to up the Mounties’ lead to 24-14.

With its two long drives, Mt. SAC burned more than 11 minutes off the clock and left OCC in catch-up mode.

The Pirates embraced the role, beginning with Chris Holmesly’s 36-yard kickoff return to the OCC 43-yard line. OCC then needed only six plays to go 57 yards for a touchdown.

Adeniji, who finished with five catches for 126 yards and two scores, caught the 11-yard scoring pass to cap the drive, which also included a key 27-yard completion from Debowski to George Raco.

But the PAT, which would have drawn the Pirates within a field goal, was blocked and returned 98 yards by Joe Smith for two points and a 26-20 Mounties’ lead.

Mt. SAC consumed another six minutes on its ensuing possession, which ended in a 37-yard Gener field goal, and OCC’s final possession ended when Mt. SAC’s Thyrell Lewis intercepted at his own 33.

Debowski, who said he hoped his performance would serve as a stepping stone to a successful 2007 campaign, completed 11 of 19 passes for 212 yards and two TDs.

OCC, which reached a bowl game for the second straight year, the first back-to-back postseason appearances for the program since 1992-93, was beaten by a better team, Pirates Coach Mike Taylor said.

“It was a Mission Conference slugfest,” Taylor said. “I was pleased with the way Debowski played against one of the toughest defenses in the conference, especially for someone who hadn’t taken a lot of snaps.

“I thought our kids played hard and we played better than we did last week [a regular-season upset loss to Golden West].”