Truxton, other locals honored
Quest Truxton, a repeat first-team honoree, leads a list of area community college players named All-Southern Conference in football for the 2015 season.
Truxton, a former Newport Harbor High standout who was a sophomore receiver and return specialist for Golden West College, was named to the first-team offense, as were Orange Coast standouts Mason Dossey and Stefan Derrick.
Truxton had a team-best 68 receptions, for 902 yards and 10 touchdowns and amassed 1,555 all-purpose yards to help the Rustlers finish 8-3 and earn a bowl berth.
OCC sophomores Mark Cushing and Derrick Worthy were first-team picks on defense, while eight OCC players, as well as Newport Harbor High product Zach Wade, were second-team honorees on defense.
Derrick, a sophomore receiver, led OCC with 65 receptions for 1,161 yards and 16 touchdowns, all of which rank second on the school’s all-time single-season list.
Dossey, a sophomore quarterback, had a school-record 202 completions in 325 attempts for 2,457 yards and 21 touchdowns. He threw just four interceptions. His passing yards rank No. 3 in OCC single-season annals and his interception-to-attempt ratio of 81.3 was by far the best among 37 Southern California schools.
Dossey and Derrick helped OCC finish 7-3 and finish second in the conference with a 5-1 record, its most conference wins in 28 seasons. The Pirates were defeated by Ventura in the Beach Bowl, their first bowl appearance since 2006, on Nov. 21.
Cushing, a middle linebacker, led the Pirates with 94 tackles, the second-best total in the last 10 seasons. He had two interceptions, one sack and one fumble recovery.
Worthy, a sophomore cornerback who was a second-team all-conference choice as a freshman, had 42 tackles and four interceptions, three of which he returned for touchdowns.
Wade, a sophomore safety at Saddleback, goes into Saturday’s state playoff game against Long Beach with a team-best 79 tackles. Wade, who helped the Gauchos (9-2) win the conference title and post a current nine-game winning streak, had two interceptions and three fumble recoveries for a team-best five take-aways.
Representing OCC on the second-team defense are sophomores Josh Odigie and Matt Andre, as well as freshmen Brandon Worthy, Preston Hendry and Christian Webb.
Worthy, a strong safety, had a team-best five interceptions and added three fumble recoveries while posting 55 tackles, second-best on the squad.
Hendry, an end, had 53 tackles, 5.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for losses, while Webb, an outside linebacker, had 45 tackles and one fumble recovery.
Odigie, a 6-foot-4, 260-pound tackle, had 51 tackles, including four sacks and 12 for losses. He also recovered one fumble.
Andre, a tackle, had 19 tackles, but was a plugger in the middle of the trenches for the Pirates.
OCC sophomore running back Kyle White and sophomore center Brett Landon were repeat second-team selections on offense, at which OCC freshman tackle Will Martin was also recognized.
White led the Pirates with 699 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 135 attempts. White also had 28 receptions, third-most on the team, for 196 yards.
Saddleback sophomore quarterback Johnny Stanton was the Offensive Player of the Year and Fullerton sophomore linebacker Thomas Cletcher was the Defensive Player of the Year.
Saddleback’s Mark McElroy was the Coach of the Year.
— Barry Faulkner