Orange Coast tries to stay perfect

Mike Taylor has seen week five of the football season seven times in his tenure as Orange Coast College coach.

So Taylor knows that while most everything about a football season is difficult to predict, there is one thing he can count on at this time of year: injuries.

“That’s why we carry so many guys at the start of the year,” Taylor said. “We need a bye week.”

But that will not come until after the No. 5-ranked Pirates (4-0) go on the road to take on No. 14-ranked Riverside (2-2) today at 5 p.m.

In order to maintain their lofty spot and match the 1991 Pirates’ in beginning the season 5-0, Orange Coast will have to overcome injuries new and old.

The new is sophomore starting linebacker Nick West, who is in a cast after twisting his foot. He will miss a couple weeks. Starting defensive lineman Alex Mulu, who injured his anterior cruciate ligament, will miss the remainder of the year. Also, back-up quarterback Chris Debowski was cleared to play after a concussion, and starting receiver A.J. Moskus has torn cartilage on his sternum, but will play.

The old is Cory Nicol’s sports hernia. Nicol, a sophomore who intercepted a team-high six passes last season, is out for the year.

When the game begins the Pirates hold a glaring advantage in turnover margin over Riverside. Orange Coast leads the Mission Conference with a plus-13 margin and Riverside has committed 11 turnovers, second to last in the 12-team conference.

The Pirates have coughed up the ball once this season. Six turnovers for the Tigers led to a 24-14 loss to Cerritos last week and an interception halted a potential game-winning drive against No. 1-ranked El Camino, in a 28-22 loss.

The Pirates’ offense on the other hand is loaded and averaging 33.8 points per game. Sophomore quarterback Kekoa Crowell is coming off his best game, throwing for 226 yards and four touchdowns on 16-of-22 passing, in just over three quarters of work all of which earned him Mission Conference Player of the Week honors.

“He had a great week of practice,” Taylor said. “Earlier in the season, he didn’t seem in sync with the receivers, which he is now.”

Sophomore receiver Damola Adeniji has five touchdown catches on the season against primarily double coverage.

In the backfield, running back Andrew Banks continues to improve and is the top freshman in the Mission Conference with 325 yards on the ground and five touchdowns. Banks’ longest run of the season is 19 and Taylor said Banks is due to break for a long gain.

“He ran more reckless last week,” Taylor said of Banks who gained 91 yards on 22 carries. “He was kind of tentative at the beginning of the year. Now he knows he has to get yards his own way.”

On defense, freshman linebacker Shaun Mohler, a Corona del Mar High graduate, leads the conference in total tackles with 36 and solo tackles with 24.

Taylor said the Pirates’ undefeated record is always a motivating factor for opponents.

“They’re looking forward to knocking off a 4-0 team,” Taylor said. “I’m sure a lot of people think OCC is not as good as its record. I think that we’ll prove that we are. Saturday is payday and we need to win so we can get paid so we can get paid for a hard week of work.”