OCC Football Preview vs. Saddleback

Orange Coast (4-2, 2-0) vs. Saddleback (5-2, 3-0)

When/where: Saturday, 1 p.m. at OCC

Key Pirates: So. WR Stefan Derrick; So. QB Mason Dossey; So. MLB Mark Cushing; So. SS Brandon Worthy.

Key Gauchos: So. QB Johnny Stanton; So. WR Zach Davis; So. WR Dominic Collins; So. DB Zachary Wade.

Breakdown: It’s a battle of Southern Conference unbeatens, with the Pirates having won four in a row and the Gauchos on a five-game winning streak ... Saddleback is ranked No. 11 in the state and OCC is No. 17 ... Saddleback has won seven of the last eight meetings, including a 57-24 thumping last season, and leads the series, 25-13 ... Derrick, the reigning Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Week, shares the state lead with 10 touchdown receptions and has 36 catches for 723 yards this fall ... Dossey has thrown for 1,348 yards with 11 touchdowns and only three interceptions ... Stanton, a former Santa Margarita High star who bounced back from Nebraska, leads the Gauchos in rushing (365 yards) and passing (1,543). His seven rushing TDs lead the conference, as do his 12 TD passes ... Davis has 33 catches for 407 yards and one TD, while Collins has 27 receptions for 452 yards and four TDs ... Wade, a Newport Harbor High product, has a team-leading 56 tackles and one interception ... Cushing paces the Pirates with 61 tackles, while Worthy has five interceptions ... OCC has 11 interceptions and four defensive TDs, ranking tied for fifth and second, respectively, in the 37-school Southern California Football Assn. ... Saddleback does not have a defensive TD and has just five interceptions ... Saddleback is No. 3 in the SCFA in scoring defense (17.6 points per game), while OCC ranks No. 8, allowing 22.8 per contest ... The two teams have two common opponents in 2015. Both lost to Cerritos and both defeated Palomar by not dissimilar margins.

— Barry Faulkner