Sidelines: Musseau the man

Don Cantrell

One of the most interesting championship football teams from the

early days of Orange Coast College was the 1957 Pirates under the

direction of a first-year coach, the late Steve Musseau.

Musseau, a World War II paratrooper who had played rugged football at

Louisiana State University, demonstrated his winning talent before OCC as

the grid chief for Mater Dei High School. Hence, his reputation was

well-known in Orange County.

He was following in the steps of Coach Al Irwin, whose OCC gridders

won the Eastern Conference title in 1956 and took a trip to the Potato

Bowl in Bakersfield. He knew it meant the pressure to win another title

was on.

The only loss of the ’57 season came in the first conference game

against Mt. San Antonio. It opened as a shocker with Mt. SAC running the

opening kickoff back for a long touchdown. On a glum note that night, OCC

played hard, but could never overcome the points from the first score.

The Pirates remained respectable on the field, but were not viewed as

an overwhelming outfit, but they did have a masterful way of winning.

In a game against Chaffey at OCC with the score tied in the final

minutes, 12-12, OCC capitalized on a wobbly center pass for the extra

point. In that shaky moment, the kicker, end Alan Story, an Anaheim grad,

raced for the ball, picked it up, and, despite his horn-rimmed glasses,

turned toward the end zone and hurled a pass that caught the eye of

second-string end Terry McGuire. He snagged the ball for the extra point,

making it 13-12.

While OCC had been struggling, but successful through the season, its

last opponent, Santa Ana College, was ranked No. 1 in the nation and

clearly seen as the top contender for the Junior Rose Bowl. All four

Santa Ana backs ran the 100-yard dash under 10.00 and the Dons’ offensive

line was big. Two of its highly rated backs were Bob Gaiters and Pervis

Atkins.

The contest was set at the OCC stadium and the press projected that

the game would draw more than 10,000 fans, although OCC could only seat

7,200. The press would be right.

Looking back, Jim Newkirk, a former Harbor High tackle said, “Musseau

was a very motivating coach that year, and our hustle probably accounted

for part of our success.”

“My recollection is that our defense was the key to our success,” he

continued. “The offense consisted of mostly up-the-middle runs designed

to produce 3-4 yards each time, a ‘grind-it-out’ type of offense, with an

occasional pass or trick play. The reason was that our line was quite

small. But, with the smallness came quickness: Open a small hole through

which our small backs could pop.”

He added, “We figured if we could score a few points, our defense

could hold the other team to even fewer. The defensive line was also

small. Because of our lack of size, Musseau taught us that we probably

could not penetrate through the bigger, but slower, opponents. So, we

developed the shiver and move defense. It was hit him in the shoulder

pads with both hands to stop him and allow the shiverer to move quickly

and en masse to where the ball is going. It worked and we took advantage

of our small size to give up rather few points that season.”

Newkirk added, “I recall practicing the shiver. Hours of stiff-arming

the blocking sled and moving and diving. At the end of the practice

sessions, one’s wrists and forearms ached from the practice”

An any rate, it was a tense crowd at OCC that night and many feared

Santa Ana would simply repeat its slick operation against the Pirates.

Local fans could only cross their fingers for luck.

But once the clash was under way, it was apparent that the Dons were

in serious trouble. Chaps like Newkirk, Newport’s Jim Bento and Anaheim’s

Ed Chambers were confusing the Don linemen and clogging any holes. The

Don backs could hardly get out of their own backfield. Fans were stunned

and even more so near the end when they realized OCC was winning, 13-0.

Santa Ana would score on a pass at the end, but it would not help the

cause.

It ranked as one of the biggest junior college upsets of the year in

the nation and it also meant that the Dons could forget any dreams about

the Junior Rose Bowl.

One Santa Ana fan cried out to Musseau after the game: “Pretty lucky,

huh?” Musseau replied, “Well, I would rather be lucky than good, because

when you’re good, you can be beaten.”

The Pirates had turned down a bid from the Potato Bowl, thinking they

would be hearing from the Junior Rose Bowl. Sadly for OCC, that would not

happen. Musseau was infuriated when he learned the bid was instead going

to Cerritos College.