Junior College Football: OCC squanders opportunity in loss

For a full half, the Orange Coast College football team appeared intent on making the most of its first significant late-season championship moment in more than two decades. But ultimately, the Pirates dropped the ball in a 35-22 loss to Saddleback College on Saturday at OCC.

The Pirates were hampered by three key dropped passes by receivers, as well as a lost fumble that led to a touchdown, and the Gauchos (6-2, 4-0 in conference), ranked No. 11 in the state, were eight for eight on third-down conversions after halftime to secure their spot atop the Southern Conference standings.

No. 17-ranked OCC (4-3, 2-1), which came in on a four-game winning streak, rallied from an 8-0 deficit with two touchdowns late in the second quarter to take a 15-8 advantage into halftime.

Saddleback, which extended its winning streak to six games and has now won eight of the last nine meetings with OCC, produced touchdowns on its first four second-half possessions to pull away and close the deal.

OCC could have padded its first-half lead after advancing into Saddleback territory in the final minute before intermission. But after OCC called its second of three first-half timeouts following an incomplete pass with 38 seconds left, a run up the middle gained just three yards to the Gauchos’ 33, prompting the hosts to burn their final timeout with 32 seconds left.

On third-and-seven, sophomore quarterback Mason Dossey was sacked for an eight-yard loss, moving the Pirates out of field-goal range. On fourth down, Dossey lofted a perfect strike into the end zone, where freshman receiver Trevon Coley had a step on his defender. But Coley, whose vision was temporarily obstructed by the defender, had the ball fall off both of his hands as time expired.

The resulting missed scoring chance proved costly for OCC, which fumbled the ball away on its first second-half possession to help fuel Saddleback’s surging momentum.

The Gauchos went 74 yards on six plays with the second-half kickoff to knot the score, then sophomore safety Zachary Wade, a Newport Harbor High product, recovered a fumble caused by a huge hit on Dossey during a scramble. Three plays after Wade set the Gauchos up on the OCC 36-yard line, sophomore quarterback and Nebraska bounce-back Johnny Stanton scored on a 21-yard run to put Saddleback up for good with 10:36 left in the third quarter.

It was the second rushing touchdown of the half for Stanton, who had a game-high 79 rushing yards and also threw three touchdown passes on his way to adding 290 yards through the air.

After another dropped pass on third-and-12 led to a punt on OCC’s second possession after halftime, Saddleback went 73 yards on 10 plays, then 75 yards on 12 plays on its next two possessions, to finalize the scoring with 11:12 left in the game.

Coley also dropped a pass that would have gained nearly 30 yards to the Saddleback 32-yard line early in the second quarter on an OCC possession that ended in one of its six punts.

The offense and defense were equally culpable for the Pirates, who were outgained, 502-273 yards.

“We have no one to blame but ourselves,” OCC Coach Kevin Emerson told his players after the game. “We gave up way too many big plays and we didnt have enough consistency on offense. That’s a perfect recipe to lose a game.”

Sophomore receiver Stefan Derrick, who came in tied for the state lead with 10 touchdown receptions, caught scoring passes of 11 and 23 yards. Derrick’s second touchdown catch came on a double pass from sophomore receiver Darrel Watts that pulled the Pirates within 29-22 with 10 seconds left in the third quarter.

Derrick had seven catches for 68 yards, less than half of his 20.3 yards-per-catch average coming in.

Dossey finished 21 for 33 for 153 passing yards, without an interception, but he was sacked six times to help limit the Pirates to 97 rushing yards, less than half of Saddleback’s 206.

An 11-yard punt set up OCC’s first touchdown and the Pirates took the lead by cashing in a 17-yard interception return by freshman free safety Zoauntarrious Blunt to the Saddleback 33-yard line.

Kyle White’s five-yard run capped the ensuing possession to put OCC up, 15-8, with 3:28 left. But OCC failed to pad its cushion.

Saddleback needed just 4:24 of the third quarter to turn a seven-point deficit into a seven-point cushion of its own.

“We just decided to put the pedal on the gas down and just go,” Saddleback Coach Mark McElroy said of the second-half turnaround.

OCC freshman defensive end Cody Meddaugh also acknowledged the severe momentum shift at intermission.

“In the second half, [the Gauchos] came out hot and we came out a little flat,” Meddaugh said. “We just weren’t a tight ship today, especially in the second half. We didn’t seize our opportunity,”

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Saddleback 35, Orange Coast 22

Saddleback 8 – 0 – 21 – 6 – 35

Orange Coast 0 – 15 – 7 – 0 – 22

FIRST QUARTER

Sad – Collins 17 pass from Stanton (Amaro pass from Stanton), 5:35.

SECOND QUARTER

OCC – Derrick 11 pass from Dossey (White pass from Dossey), 5:56.

OCC – White 5 run (Bjurman kick), 3:28.

THIRD QUARTER

Sad – Stanton 8 run (Ball kick), 13:08.

Sad – Stanton 21 run (Ball kick), 10:36.

Sad – Davis 31 pass from Stanton (Ball kick), 2:22.

OCC – Derrick 23 pass from Watts (Bjurman kick), 0:10.

FOURTH QUARTER

Sad – Davis 10 pass from Stanton (run failed), 11:12.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

Sad – Stanton, 15-79, 2 TDs.

OCC – Rodriguez, 17-68.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

Sad – Stanton, 22-37-2, 290, 3 TDs.

OCC – Dossey, 21-33-0, 153, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

Sad – Davis, 7-111, 2 TDs.

OCC – Derrick, 7-68, 2 TDs.