Football standouts Nelson, Losoya moving on to Division I schools

COSTA MESA -- After successful seasons as freshmen last year, a pair of Orange Coast College football standouts -- tight end Matthew Nelson and offensive lineman Alex Losoya -- will be continuing their athletic and academic careers at the Division I level, according to head coach Kevin Emerson.

Nelson, a 6-foot-4, 230-pound blocker and pass-catcher out of Los Alamitos HS, has earned a scholarship to play at Utah State University, while Losoya, a 6-4, 285-pounder out of Mater Dei HS, will attend Arizona State University on a football scholarship.

"It's always our No. 1 goal to get our players to the four-year level and for these two guys, to be able to get there after just one season, says an awful lot about the type of players they are," Emerson said. "I'm very happy that they were able to spend a season with us and that we helped them get to where they wanted to go."

Nelson playes six games for the Pirates in 2016 and had 17 receptions for 138 yards and a touchdown. After missing the first five games of the season, Nelson came in and was a steady blocker and a reliable option for the Coast passing game.

Nelson caught a season-high five passes for 40 yards against Saddleback and against rival Golden West, Nelson pulled in a 3-yard TD catch with 18 seconds left to put the Pirates ahead for good.

Other teams interested in Nelson included Marshall University and Missouri State, in addition to Utah State.

Losoya was a force to be reckoned with up front for the OCC offensive line. His strong play in the trenches helped the Pirates pick up nearly 1,500 yards of rushing offense, while his ability to block helped the Pirates rack up over 2,500 passing yards as well.

A member of the Orange County All-Star Football game before coming to OCC, Losoya received interest from Coloroado, Missouri, Baylor and Texas Tech before deciding on the Sun Devils.