Victory Flag returns to Pirates after 36-30 win over Dons

COSTA MESA -- In a game that featured five lead changes, two safeties and a heart-stopping finish, the Orange Coast College football team escaped LeBard Stadium with a 36-30 win over visiting Santa Ana, reclaiming the "Victory Flag" along the way.

Quarterback Kody Whitaker completed a record-33 passes for 293 yards and one touchdown for Coast (2-6, 1-3 in Southern Division), while receiver Mark Munson added his name along side Ray Ohrel with 14 receptions for 147 yards and one touchdown. Ohrel's 14 catches came back in 1999 against Pasadena City College.

Running back Clayton Howard was the workhorse for the Pirate running game, carring the ball 27 times for 92 yards and two touchdowns.

For the Dons (3-5, 0-4), the quarterback tandem of Lincoln Faletoi and Shane Truelove threw for 259 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions on 17-of-37 passing.

The Pirates carried a 22-21 lead into the second half and the Dons quickly regained the lead when Truelove found Hayden Dunn for a 46-yard touchdown, putting SAC up 28-22.

But OCC went back to work and seven plays later, Whitaker hooked up with Munson for a 50-yard touchdown, putting the Pirates back out in front, 29-28.

Showing the ability to control the ball against the Dons, Coast used a 14-play, 70-yard scoring drive that gobbled up over seven minutes of clock time and it was capped off by a 1-yard TD rush by Howard, giving Coast a 36-28 advantage.

Early in the fourth quarter, a high snap on a punt attempt by the Pirates sailed into the back of the end zone, making it 36-30, but the OCC defense -- led by leading tacklers Paul Swanson (10 tackles, two sacks, one force fumble, one interception) and Austin Brewer (10 tackles, one sack) -- kept the Dons off the scoreboard.

Coast had a pair of drives to ice the game, but two missed field goals kept the Dons in the game.

The Dons had the ball on their own 20-yard line and 1:34 remaining, but no timeouts remaining. SAC moved to the 34 when Truelove's pass to Dunn appeared to bank off of the receivers back leg and into the arms of a Pirate defender, but the officials ruled the pass incomplete.

Two plays later, Truelove completed a pass to Malik Richards for 27 yards, but lost the ball near the end of the play, which was recovered by the Pirates. However, the officials ruled Richards down and the Dons retained possession.

Santa Ana made its way down to the Pirates' 24-yard-line, but three incomplete passes by Truelove was followed up with an interception by OCC's Joseph Jackson with just two seconds left on the clock.

The Dons jumped out to a 14-3 lead late in the first quarter, before the Pirates regrouped and turned a SAC safety, an Ian Pogue 1-yard touchdown run and a 21-yard field goal by Griff Amies into a 22-14 lead.

Faletoi hooked up with Wakeim Mahan on a 13-yard touchdown pass to bring the Dons to within a point with 29 seconds left in the first half.

The Victory Flag, which features each school's logo as well as a "V" and is flown with the previous year's winning team flown right side up, was introduced to the rivalry in 2010, commemorating the 60th meeting between the two colleges. The design of the Flag is based on the team's individual victory flags from the 1950's. Part of the early rivalry between the Dons and the Pirates included members of each team attempting to steal the other school's victory flag. This marks the second time (2011) that the Pirates have held the Victory Flag since it was introduced to the rivalry. Coast leads the all-time series, 33-31.

OCC will return to action on Saturday against rival Golden West College, beginning at 6 p.m. atLeBard Stadium in the annual "West Coast Showdown" matchup.