Pirates' rally comes up a yard short as Griffins prevail, 37-35

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College football team put forth a strong last-minute drive, but came up a yard short as the Pirates fall, 37-35, to visiting Grossmont College on Saturday afternoon at Dick Tucker Field.

The Pirates (2-5, 1-1 in National Division, Southern League) marched 68 yards over the final 3:45 of the game and had the ball on the Grossmont 1-yard line with one second remaining in the game before a 19-yard field-goal attempt was deflected by the Griffins' defense and the ball sailed wide of the left upright.

The loss spoiled a record-setting performance by wide receiver James Rutledge, who caught 13 passes for 229 yards and two touchdowns. His 229 receiving yards top Junior Tagaloa's 209 receiving-yard performance against Palomar back in 1987 and his 13 receptions were one shy of the school record of 14, held by Mark Munson (2014) and Ray Ohrel (1999).

Nico Jackson had a season-best 154 rushing hards and two touchdowns on 32 carries, while the quarterback tandem of Pete Michell (19-of-28, two touchdowns) and Ayden Auer (9-of-14, one TD) threw for 365 yards.

But most of those outstanding offensive stats by the Pirates were negated by some impressive numbers turned in by the Griffins (3-4, 1-1). Quarterback Brad Cagle was 23-of-38 passing for 363 yards and three touchdowns with the majority of the success going to receiver Luqman Barcoo, who caught nine passes for 179 yards and two TDs.

In a game that had just two punts combined between both teams, Coast trailed 34-22 going into the fourth quarter. Auer, who came into the game in the fourth quarter, connected with Christian Pryor on a 17-yard touchdown pass to bring the Pirates to within five at 34-29 with 12:22 remaining in the game.

Grossmont marched down the field, eating up 3:29 of the clock on a 10-play drive, but settled for a 32-yard field goal by Nels Haltom, pushing the Griffins' advantage to 37-29 with 8:46 left to go.

Coast received the kickoff and racked up a 10-play, 68-yard scoring drive that was capped off by a Jackson 1-yard TD run, cutting the deficit to 37-35 with 4:42 remaining. Auer kept the ball on a 2-point try, but was stopped short of the goal line by the Griffins, keeping the guests in front.

The Pirate defense came through when it was needed most, pinning the Griffins inside their 6-yard line on a punt attempt. But, GC punter Blake Lester made the most of his lone opportunity, sending a 48-yard punt out to the OCC 46 and with a 15-yard penalty tacked onto the end, the Pirates were back on their own 31-yard line to start their final drive.

Coast was stopped on a fourth-down play early in the drive, but a defensive holding call kept the drive alive for the Pirates. Auer and the offense picked apart the Grossmont defense and had the ball on the GC 16-yard line with 32 seconds left as the Pirates called their final timeout.

Jackson nearly got into the end zone, but was stopped short on a Tyler Sepulveda tackle and with the clock ticking, OCC tried for another Jackson run, but again, Sepulveda kept the OCC running back out of the end zone. 

Auer quickly spiked the ball with one second remaining, giving Coast a chance to win the game with a chip-shot field goal. After a Grossmont timeout, Coast attempted to with the game, but the deflected ball sailed wide.

Both teams combined for 995 yards of total offense (523 for OCC, 472 for Grossmont).

Coast will play at Golden West College on Saturday at 1 p.m.