Pirates defeat Dons in triple OT

COSTA MESA — The Orange Coast College medical staff told football coach Mike Taylor at halftime that they did not know how long sophomore tailback Ray Holley could continue with a tweaked right knee.

The answer, after the Pirates come-from-behind, 33-27 win over visiting Santa Ana in three overtimes Saturday night, was: As long as it took.

Holley, a reshuffled offensive line, and the Pirates’ trademark swarming defense combined to provide the National Division triumph, which upped the OCC record to 5-1, 1-1 in the division, and may just have saved its season.

“It’s huge,” Holley, who rushed for 146 of his 191 yards and scored all three of his touchdowns after halftime, said of the victory, OCC’s first against a Division opponent since 2007. “It puts us back on the map ... This might work us back up there in the rankings.”

The offense for OCC, ranked No. 11 in Southern California, was, well rank, through most of three periods. The Pirates took a 7-0 lead when Lano Fuentes returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown, but had just 52 yards of total offense and no offensive points through two quarters.

OCC had three turnovers in the first quarter and three punts in the second, then began the third quarter with back-to-back three-and-out series.

But Santa Ana (3-3, 0-2 and ranked No. 14 in Southern California), which took a 17-7 lead deep into the third quarter, did OCC a favor by going for it on fourth-and-five at midfield with just more than five minutes left in the third period.

Pirates sophomore outside linebacker Jimmy Keating read the short pass and tackled the receiver for a two-yard loss. So, instead of pinning OCC deep with a punt, it gave the offense a short field.

And, thanks to Holley, who carried the ball 19 of OCC’s final 23 plays in regulation, then 10 of 12 plays in overtime for the Pirates, as well as the aforementioned defense, the hosts overcame a passing “attack” that produced just one completion after halftime.

Holley’s heroics came after his knee buckled inward after being hit from the side on pass protection in the first quarter. He missed a series, but had the knee taped and returned later in the period.

“Defense did what it does, always,” Holley said. “And, offensively, we just got into a rhythm. I feel like once we get into a rhythm, it’s hard to stop us ... Personally, I feel that regardless of whether they know we’re going to run the ball, we’re going to be able to do it.”

With line coach Doug Smith finally settling on a unit of Charles Schultz and Robert Wright at tackles, Gerald Crisp and Mike Meyer at guard and London Sapolu at center, OCC indeed did enough to salvage the win.

After the ill-fated fourth-down attempt from a short-punt formation, OCC drove seven plays for a touchdown, with Holley capping it from five yards out. Lucas Vandeman added the conversion to pull the hosts within 17-14 with 1:08 left in the third quarter.

After defensive end Bryce Brantley stripped the ball loose while making a sack and tackle Justin Niutupuai recovered at the OCC 47-yard line, OCC — or, more accurately, Holley — marched to the 11, before Vandeman booted a 28-yard, tying field goal.

Holley, who is now just two yards shy of 1,000 this season, capped the first opening possession of overtime with a two-yard touchdown run.

Santa Ana answered with a touchdown, then got a 50-yard field goal from Chase Lansford to start the second overtime.

Vandeman countered with a 37-yard field goal, before Holley swept left, then cut upfield to prance into the end zone and make it 33-27. OCC’s two-point conversion, mandated by rule, resulted in an interception in the end zone.

But, it was all the points the OCC defense needed as Niutupuai deflected a fourth-down pass and Keating made a diving interception to spark a wild OCC celebration.

OCC Defensive Coordinator Scott Orloff said Santa Ana did his team a favor by failing to punt from midfield.

“I thought that was a poor call on their part,” Orloff said of the fake punt, which earlier had produced a 34-yard touchdown pass from Travis Toon to Dominique Williams to put the Dons up, 17-7. “I thought that was the turning point.”

Keahi Raikes and Anthony Curry added interceptions for OCC, which had four sacks and held the Dons to two yards or fewer on 25 of their 39 rushing attempts.

Keating was in on two sacks, Brantley and Travis Sanford had solo sacks and Aaron Henry earned a half-sack to help fortify the OCC defense.

OCC quarterback Kyle Manning threw two first-quarter interceptions and was replaced by freshman Ethan Whitsell for a second straight week. Whitsell was four of 14 passing for just 24 yards, but he hit Kyle Burdett for a 12-yard gain on third-and-four in the third overtime to set up the game-winning TD.

Orange Coast 33, Santa Ana 27, Triple Overtime

SCORE BY PERIODS

Santa Ana 3-7-7-0-7-3-0--27

Orange Coast 7-0-7-3-7-3-6--33

FIRST QUARTER

OCC – Fuentes 94 kickoff return (Vandeman kick), 14:47.

SA – Lansford 38 FG, 8:21.

SECOND QUARTER

SA – DeLeon 49 run (Lansford kick), 6:06.

THIRD QUARTER

SA – D. Williams 34 pass from Toon (Lansford kick), 9:13.

OCC – Holley 5 run (Vandeman kick), 1:18.

FOURTH QUARTER

OCC – Vandeman 28 FG, 5:34.

FIRST OVERTIME

OCC – Holley 2 run (Vandeman kick).

SA – Macharia 11 pass from Thomas (Lansford kick).

SECOND OVERTIME

SA – Lansford 50 FG.

OCC – Vandeman 37 FG.

THIRD OVERTIME

OCC – Holley 7 run (pass intercepted).

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

SA – DeLeon, 7-69, 1 TD; Privitelli, 6-26; Fletcher 7-17; Pesante, 3-6; Rap, 2-5; Hytche, 9-2; Thomas, 5-minus 22.

OCC – Holley, 42-191, 3 TDs; Fuentes, 1-10; Ivey, 2-6; Burdett, 1-4; Allen, 1-4; Team, 1-minus 1; Manning, 1-minus 8; Whitsell, 5-minus 23.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

SA – Thomas, 12-31-3, 118, 1 TD; Toon, 2-2-0, 32, 1 TD.

OCC – Whitsell, 4-14-0, 24; Manning, 1-6-2, 15.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

SA – Macharia, 3-43, 1 TD; Martin, 4-18; D. Williams, 1-34, 1 TD; Skaggs, 1-21; Hytche, 1-13; Privitelli, 1-9; Zamora, 1-7; Hopkins, 1-7; Handford, 1-minus 2.

OCC – Burdett, 2-17; Kunitomo, 1-15; Allen, 1-5; Brister, 1-2.