Football: Four Pirates move on

Orange Coast College sophomore receiver Stefan Derrick, who just missed school season records in receptions, receiving yards and touchdown catches, tops a list of four Pirates football players who signed letters of intent Wednesday to play at four-year schools.

Derrick, a 6-foot-1, 180-pounder out of Long Beach Poly, signed with Youngstown State.

Sophomore defensive tackles Joshua Odigie and Bobby Hill signed with Central Florida and Colorado State, respectively, while sophomore receiver-kick returner Darrel Watts will continue at Midwestern State in Texas, Coach Kevin Emerson announced.

The four players joined December signees Kyle White, a sophomore running back bound for Oregon State, and freshman strong safety Brandon Worthy, bound for Northern Arizona, as OCC products moving on to the next level.

Derrick, a first-team All-Southern Conference honoree who also made the All-Region III team, had 65 catches for 1,161 yards and 16 touchdowns. He played defensive back as a freshman, before converting to offense as a sophomore.

The 6-3, 245-pound Odigie earned second-team all-conference recognition last fall to help OCC finish 7-4 and earn the program’s first postseason bowl berth since 2006. The Los Osos High product made 51 tackles, fifth-most on the team, including four sacks and 12 tackles for losses. He forced one fumble, recovered one fumble and broke up one pass.

Watts was second on the team with 31 receptions and he had 343 receiving yards and three touchdowns. The 5-8, 160-pound Long Beach Poly product averaged 21.2 yards on 24 kickoff returns and he produced 44 yards on seven punt returns in 2015.

Hill, who was limited to four games, had nine tackles. The 6-4, 275-pounder out of Long Beach Wilson High, had one sack and three tackles for losses to help OCC finish the regular season having allowed 22.4 points per game, which ranked No. 7 among 37 Southern California schools.

“I am proud of our guys taking care of business in the classroom,” Emerson said. “This allows them to accept a scholarship and continue their education and athletics at the next level. Hard work pays off and I am excited to have them represent OCC at their future school.”

Derrick credited OCC for making him a better student, athlete and man.

“It helped me mature and taught me how to work hard and buy into the system,” Derrick said.

Odigie said his experience at OCC was memorable.

“There are people here who really care about you and want you to succeed,” Odigie said.

Watts called his time at OCC life-changing, while Hill noted that his tenure with the Pirates showed him how to succeed academically.

— Barry Faulkner