Pirates head up to L.A. Southwest to take on the Cougars

COSTA MESA -- As the 2022 football season winds down for the Orange Coast College football team, the Pirates will look no further than their teammates for motivation as the team heads up to L.A. to take on L.A. Southwest College on Saturday, beginning at 6 p.m.

"These guys are playing for each other, but especially our sophomores, who have put in two years of hard work and have laid the foundation of what we are trying to accomplish here," Gonzalez said. "It may not show in the wins and losses, but this group has done a tremendous job of setting this program on the right track. Their leadership has been outstanding this year and they have always been the first ones to show up on Monday, ready to work on fixing mistakes that we made in the previous game. These guys deserve scholarship looks and it's our responsibility to help get them to that next phase in their lives. There's no quit in my guys ... this week's practices have been solid and I expect our group to go up there and compete against a hungry L.A. Southwest team."

Once again, the OCC offense will start with its running game and that engine has been fueled by sophomore RB J.P. Segura, who has rushed for 711 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 5.0 yards per carry. In last week's game against the Dons, the SAC defense concentrated on stopping Segura and the elusive back still managed to rush for a respectable 71 yards on 20 carries. Look for Segura to have a monster evening against a struggling and shorthanded Cougars' defense.

"This is a game where we have to maintain our focus," Gonzalez said. "Last week, we were forced into making some 'rookie' mistakes and this week, we are focusing on doing what we do best, which is to re-establish our running game. That sets up everything else."

While the defense has shown flashes of dominant play, this young Pirate group has had to learn on the fly this year and looking ahead to the future, the potential is there for a scary-good unit coming back for 2023. "We're only losing 2-3 guys on the defensive end," Gonzalez said. "The guys have really done a good job of picking things up quickly and learning from (coach Twin Fernandes). With a solid year of off-season work ahead of them, I think this can be a very strong side of the game for us next season. And, also on the offensive end, having guys back like (wide receivers) Kaleb Stamps and Kaden Baptista ... we've got some guys who can be playmakers for us next year. I'm really excited about this freshman group coming back and taking the lessons learned from this year and applying them to next season.

"Coming from high school to community college is a big step when it comes to football. The speed ... the physicality. Looking back at our season-opening game against Golden West, I think we had some guys that were shellshocked at the pace of the game and the talent level that's at this level. So it's been a learning curve for most of the guys here and over the next couple of weeks, our freshman are going play their hearts out for our sophomores. They know they're going to be the sophomores next year and the next batch of freshmen will play for them."

As for the LASW Cougars ... it's been a ROUGH 2022 campaign as injuries and small roster have limited the completion of some of the games this year. Quarterback Michael Franklin has thrown for 847 yards and eight touchdowns, while the running game has been led by Amouray Gray and his 138 yards on 58 carries. Top receivers for LASW have ben Franck Adou (26 receptions, 217 yards, 2 TDs) and Travyion Watson (19-227, 3 TDs).

"We are trying to teach our kids out to compete and even though the team on the other side of the field is down, that doesn't mean you can't work hard and compete on every play against them," Gonzalez said. "They maybe a team that's down, but they're not out. They want to work hard and they want to win, too. So, we need to go up there and put in 100% effort on every play against them. Our goals haven't changed and we need to be ready mentally and create our own urgency on Saturday. Our season, and for some, careers are coming to an end over the next two weeks. We want to end things on a positive note."