Pirates return to action on Saturday against Santa Monica
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COSTA MESA -- After some unexpected time off, the Orange Coast College football team is back and ready to go against visiting Santa Monica City College on Saturday afternoon, beginning at 1 p.m. at LeBard Stadium.
It's been a long, two-week hiatus off the field due to COVID, but for the Pirates (0-1), its all about moving forward. "We're excited to be back," OCC head coach Bubba Gonzalez said. "It's been a tough couple of weeks, watching college football on TV and not being out there playing. But the guys understood the situation and they did a great job of taking it in stride. All of this time, we talk about being adaptable and overcoming obstacles that stand in your way. All we can do is control what we can control and not worry about the things we can't control. Our captains did a great job of keeping everyone moving in the same direction during our down time. The team has shown that they trust our leaders to do the right thing and they have for us. We're not feeling sorry for ourselves and this week, I've seen some energetic practices from the guys, so I'm expecting a fun game on Saturday."
OCC will look to the quarterback tandem of Isaac Michels and J.D. Rafkin to lead the Pirate offense on the field. "I'm excited to see what both of them can do," Gonzalez said. "Both bring something to our offense. Isaac is an athletic kid who can run around and extend plays for us, while J.D. is more of a traditional type of quarterback with strong arm."
Running the ball will be highlighted by the RB trio of David Hernandez, Colin Gregg and J.P. Segura-Queijeiro. All three found some success against the Rustlers and Gonzalez will look for more of that against the Corsairs. "That second half against Golden West, we managed to find some success on the ground so now, it's a matter of starting off with that strong running game for us," Gonzalez said. "We need to stay balanced on the offensive end and our backs know how to run and block and be tough. We need to be able to get those tough yards and extend our drives and control the clock."
But overall, Gonzalez sees this game won or lost in the trenches. "As a former O-line guy myself, I understand the importance of winning those line battles," Gonzalez said. "Santa Monica has some good running backs so we need to control the line defensively and make things hard for them up the middle. And when we have the ball, it's vital that we give our offense time to develop and that starts with our offensive line play. We need both sides of the big guys to dominate for us in order for us to be successful out there."
The Corsairs (1-2) opened the season with a 52-14 home loss to El Camino before topping Compton, 46-18, in Week 2. SMCC hosted Pasadena City last week and lost to the Lancers, 43-22.
Offensively, the Corsairs are led by quarterback Sam Vaulton, who has thrown for 703 yards on 57-of-99 passing with four touchdowns and six interceptions. Vaulton's top targets include Tariq Brown (15 receptions, 248 yards, one TD), Gunnison Bloodgood (11-99, 0 TD), Richard Kick (7-79) and Josiah Neos (7-113, 1 TD).
Much like the Pirates, SMCC relies on three running backs to carry the majority of the load, including sophomore Hassan Biggus (19 carries, 126 yards, 1 TD), Marcus Scribner (18 carries, 67 yards) and Neos (14 carries, 48 yards, 2 TDs).
In other football news ... OCC's postponed game with Grossmont has been rescheduled for Saturday, Oct. 9 at 6 p.m. at LeBard Stadium. No makeup date has been set for the OCC-Santa Barbara City College game from Sept. 18.
