Victory Flag stays at Coast after Pirates top Dons, 38-17

SANTA ANA -- For the second year in a row the Orange Coast College football team can claim ownership to the "Victory Flag" after the Pirates posted a 38-17 win over Santa Ana on Saturday afternoon at Eddie West Field.

The Pirates (5-3, 3-1 in Southern Conference), who jumped out to a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter, racked up a well-balanced 368 yards of total offense (207 passing, 161 rushing).

Wide receiver Stefan Derrick had another monster game, catching six passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns, all coming from quarterback Mason Dossey, who threw for 207 yards on 15-of-28 passing.

The rushing tandem of Kyle White and Daniel Rodriguez pounded the Dons (1-7, 0-4) throughout the afternoon. White had 92 yards on 14 carries, while Rodriguez notched 70 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.

After a nice opening kickoff by Darrel Watts gave Coast the ball near midfield, OCC needed just three plays to find the end zone as Dossey connected with Derrick on a 41-yard touchdown completion, putting the Pirates up 7-0 after a Dan Bjurman PAT.

Derrick Worthy ended Santa Ana's opening drive with an interception on the Coast 20-yard line and on the following possession, the Pirates marched 64 yards on 10 plays and made it 14-0 on another Dossey-to-Derrick touchdown strike and Bjurman PAT.

Late in the first quarter, an airmailed snap over Dons' quarterback Jason Habash was recovered by the Pirates' Keith Ford inside Santa Ana's 8-yard line and two plays later, Rodriguez plowed into the end zone from a yard out to make it 21-0 just 26 seconds into the second quarter.

Santa Ana made it 21-3 on a 29-yard field goal by Jonah Mack and in the third quarter, the Dons made it 21-10 on a 32-yard touchdown strike from Habash to Dorion Bennett.

But Coast responded to the Dons' push and pushed right back with a six-play, 83-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown run by Rodriguez to put the Pirates up 28-10.

Bjurman connected on a 29-yard field goal to make it 31-10, but with 1:39 left in the game, Santa Ana scored on a 25-yard TD pass from Connor Burke to Bennett.

However, on the ensuing onside kick, Matthew Nelson not only recovered the ball for Coast, he ran the ball back 45 yards for a touchdown to complete OCC's fifth victory of the season.

Defensively, the Pirates were led by Gilbert Gildersleeve, who had eight tackles (seven solo) and three pass break-ups and Derrick Worthy, who had the aforementioned interception, one quarterback sack and two pass break-ups to go along with his six tackles.

Coast will return to LeBard Stadium for a "road" game against rival Golden West in the annual "West-Coast Showdown" on Saturday, beginning at 6 p.m.