Pirates set for battle against Cerritos

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College football team looks to find that right formula for success as the Pirates host Cerritos College on Saturday night at LeBard Stadium, beginning at 6 p.m.

The numbers are improving for the Pirates (0-3) and the games are tightly contested, which is a great sight to see for OCC head coach Bubba Gonzalez as he and his squad look for the right answers before their conference-opening matchup with the Falcons (1-2).

In spite of a hard-fought loss last week at Santa Barbara City College, 24-19, Coast continues to grind through another tough week of practice, but the energy and focus is at an all-time high. Last week was a great game for both teams," Gonzalez said.  "We played a pretty clean game and had a lot of success.  I am proud of the team for playing hard till the end of the game. We had the ball on the final drive to score and win but we fell short. I think the team is getting better every week and we are determined to do turn this thing around."

The brightest stats of the Week 3's matchup with the Vaqueros came on defensive side of the ball, where Coast held SBCC to just 150 yards of total offense and an astounding minus-12 yards of rushing offense.

"Right now, the defense is playing with confidence and flying around," Gonzalez said. "Our front seven dominated the line of scrimmage last week and did a great job of getting pressure on their quarterback. This week, I expect the defense to continue to play lights out. If we continue to play like that the rest of the year, he will have a great chance to win. Our defensive coordinator (Twin Fernandes) has done a great job getting his guys prepared to play every week and I expect the same this week."

Offensively, OCC has been led through the first three games by quarterback Zach Congalton, who has throw for 589 yards and five touchdowns, while also leading the Pirate ground attack with 238 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Fellow RBs Paul Mendoza and Anthony Osorio have combined for 197 rushing yards, while wide receivers Isaiah Esquibel and Jeremiah Espitia have combined for 34 receptions for 402 yards.

Six Pirate players have double-digit tackle numbers through the first three games, including Jayden Niumata (19), Rocky Jack (17), Charlie Iafeta (12), Joaquin Arguello (11), Ricky Barrios (11) and Joseph Near (11).

For the Falcons, they are looking to bounce back after tough back-to-back losses to powerhouse San Diego Mesa (12-8) and Ventura (39-32) after a season-opening win over Antelope Valley (44-23). 

Cerritos quarterback Evan Tomich has completed 59% of his passes for 762 yards and nine touchdowns (two interceptions). Top RB for the Falcons through three games has been Michael Hayes (40 carries, 139 yards) with their top pass-catchers coming from Isaiah Blair (14 receptions, 339 yards, 4 TDs) and Owen Tomich (14-102, 3 TDs)

"Its the first game of conference and I expect Cerritos to come out ready to play," Gonzalez said. "They are a good football team and they play good fundamental football. They have play-makers all over the field and we have to be able to compete with those guys. It will be a hard-fought game and it will come down to who can control the line of scrimmage. We have done a good job so far preparing for the game and we are up for the challenge.  Saturday night will be fun!"