Pirates prep for next challenge with Corsairs

COSTA MESA -- After seeing some positives last week against a good Grossmont team on the road, the Orange Coast College football team returns to the home cooking of LeBard Stadium for a Week 4 nonconference matchup with Santa Monica City College, beginning at 6 p.m.

"We really wanted to start the game with a lot of energy and that energy definitely showed up last week," OCC head coach Bubba Gonzalez said. "We had success running the ball, which opened up our passing game a little bit. On defense we had some key stops and we had some success with special teams so it was encouraging. It was the kind of game that is enjoyable to coach. We also limited our penalties and we found 26 points of our own. It was an up-and-down, competitive game and hopefully we can keep moving forward in the right direction against another tough team in Santa Monica."

OCC quarterback Brandon Cannella threw for 189 yards on 14-of-28 passing and hooked up with speedy wide receiver Kaleb Stamps four times for 79 yards and hit Glenn Atkins with a 59-yard TD strike as well.

"We managed to give Brandon a bit more time back there and he managed to find some open guys," Gonzalez said. "Guys like Isaiah Alonzo, who might not have had a big game as a pass-catching tight end on Saturday, did a fantastic job of being a blocking tight end for us, which opened up our run and pass games."

Running back J.P. Segura continues to trend upward after rushing for 114 yards on 19 carries, including a 54-yard scamper that added to OCC's big-play afternoon. 

On defense, the Pirates were swarming, collecting four sacks and eight tackles for loss. Nathan Lyken highlighted the OCC defense with a 57-yard interception return for a touchdown. "We got some big plays on defense and that helped us get off the field with more regularity," Gonzalez said. "We kept applying pressure on their quarterback with four sacks and our defense held Grossmont to minimal yards throughout the game."

The difference between Week 3 being a win or a loss came down to just a few key plays that went against the Pirates. "We try and preach to the guys that we want the other team to EARN whatever points they may score off of us," Gonzalez said. "We gave up a few big plays and Grossmont took advantage. It comes down to missing an assignment or missing keys here and there. We were better in our tackling last week, but we still need to improve on that because a couple of missed tackles helped extend drive and make big plays for the other team. Again, our leaders have taken account for what we need to do to improve and we've had good practices this week preparing for Santa Monica."

As for the Corsairs (0-2), they are coming off of a couple of tough losses to start the season, falling to Pasadena City College, 27-20, in Week 1 and at Compton College, 12-0, in Week 2. Quarterback Forrest Brock has completed 54% of his attempts (44-of-81) for 435 yards and two touchdowns, with receivers Jaboree Thornton (12 catches, 154 yards, one TD) and Everson Bozeman (10-91, 1 TD) being Brock's main targets.

But it's been a struggle on the ground for the Corsair run game as SMCC has only 85 rushing yards and one touchdown with four fumbles in 56 carries in 2022.

"Santa Monica has some guys to keep and eye on and on defense, they like to move around the field a lot," Gonzalez said. "But it's nothing we haven't seen so far this season. If we can continue to minimize our mistakes and execute our game plan on both sides of the ball, we will be in good shape. Both teams are hungry for a win so it's going to be a hard-fought battle out there."