Pirates look to bounce back at Moorpark

COSTA MESA -- Now that the "Week 1 jitters" are out of the system, the freshmen-heavy Orange Coast College football team looks to bounce back with a solid performance on the road as the Pirates travel to Moorpark College on Saturday night for a 6 p.m. matchup with the Raiders.

"It was a tale of two teams last week," OCC head coach Bubba Gonzalez said, regarding Saturday's 58-29 loss to Allan Hancock. "Our offense got going well off the opening whistle, but sputtered out a bit after that for the rest of the first half. On defense, we knew they would be run-heavy and we struggled to stop them so at the half, I challenged them to step up and do what was expected from them. To not worry about the score and just go play football and for the most part, that's what they did. They let some of the pressures go and came out and played a pretty good second half. 

"We've got a lot of freshmen on this team and Week 1, those guys shook the cobwebs out and had to match the physicality that's played at this level. I think we matched up, speed-wise, but sometimes it's a bit of an eye-opener to see what it takes to be successful at this level."

OCC (0-1) did manage to hold AHC to just 13 second-half points, while scoring 22 points of their own. "We got our running game going and it was nice to see our O-line make holes and our running backs hitting those holes as well as gaining yards after contact," Gonzalez said. "I thought there plenty of positives to take after that game. I challenged the guys and they met the challenge. Now we've got to play with that same chip on our shoulder right from the opening whistle. We've got to play a complete game ... with the same intensity that I saw in the second half last week. Establish our running game and allow that to open up our offense from there. I think it was a good learning experience for our young guys and I hope we take that next step forward this week against Moorpark."

The aforementioned Pirate ground game picked up 155 yards on the ground, with Dorian Webster (9 carries, 49 yards, 1 TD), quarterback Zach Congalton (10-47, 1 TD) and Mike Callens (9-29) leading the way. Congalton also threw for 222 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 17-of-29 passing and showed more success in the second half. "Dorian can break it at any time," Gonzalez said. "Mike is one of those squirrely guys who you can avoid tackles in a phone booth. Zach did a good job of orchestrating that opening drive and he showed he can be the general of our offense. I'd like to see him do a better job as the leader and lock his guys back into the game if we start to struggle a bit, like we did in the first half."

Defensively, Coast used the depth of the squad to spread out the tackling stats, led by Ricky Barrios with seven total tackles) and Jayden Niumata, Rocky Jack and Charlie Iafeta with six tackles each. Gonzalez sees bigger numbers in Niumata's future with this attacking style of play from the linebacker position. "I liked the collisions he got involved with ... those were great to see," Gonzalez said of Niumata. "He brings a nice dimension to our defense. He's fast, physical and smart ... definitely a nice piece to have."

As for OCC's opponents, Moorpark College made history on Saturday night, heading down to the grand opening of Palomar College's new football stadium and leaving with a 17-16 win over the Comets, ruining the Comets' historic night. Palomar carried a 16-3 lead and the Comets threatened to blow the game open, but a 76-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown brought Moorpark right back into the game at 16-10. Finally, with 2:55 remaining in the game, Kaydn Parr connected with Ryan Johnson for a 5-yard TD strike to give the Raiders the 17-16 lead, which they held the rest of the way.

The Moorpark defense kept its team in the game, forcing five Palomar turnovers, while the Raider offense (148 yards of total offense) struggled throughout the night.

"We feel that Moorpark is a team we can play with and compete, provided we have that right intensity from the first quarter, on," Gonzalez said. "It's going to come down to who can execute on both sides of the ball better. We still have something to prove and on Saturday, we have the opportunity to show that we are not the same team we've been in the past."