Pirates look to regroup, refocus for this week's battle with Glendale

COSTA MESA -- The smiles were few and far between members of the Orange Coast College football team following Saturday's 35-10 road loss to Citrus College, but as the Pirates head into this week's Metro Division matchup at Glendale, head coach Bubba Gonzalez remains optimistic.

"We are all pushing forward as a team and we will continue to work hard and come out on Saturday ready to go against Glendale," Gonzalez said. "Last week showed me that there is still a lot that needs to be fixed, but even more so, our guys just need to believe in themselves that we are a good football team and we need stand strong as a group. Last week was hard ... I felt we had a good week of practices and we came out flat and made costly mental mistakes. especially with personal fouls. To me, that's a lack of focus and not completely understanding what we need out there. It's good to be aggressive, but you have to play smart as well. We had opportunities to get off the field and we kept their drives going with those types of mistakes. So, we are back at it this week with good practices and we will keep working on fixing these mistakes so we can be a better unit this week against a good Glendale team."

Those extended drives by the Owls were proven in the stats, where Citrus was 9-of-16 on third-down opportunities, while the Pirates struggled to stay on the field, going 4-of-14 in those same situations.

"Offensively, we started with some decent drives and worked down the field, but then we just made some little mistakes here and there and at this point in the season, we need to be better than that. Our lack of experience going into this season can't be an excuse now. We've got games under our belt and we should be beyond those types of mistakes. We've been improving week after week and we shouldn't have played kind of a game with the mistakes."

But all that being said, there still is a fundamental trait this team has as a whole that Gonzalez is extremely proud of and it's something that will hopefully carry through to this week and all the way to the end of the season. "I love the fact that these kids work hard and even when things were tough last week, they never quit out there," Gonzalez said. "Each game, these guys have shown me and our coaching staff that they can fight and they will put in the work to get better."

Special teams came up with some big plays in last week's matchup with the owls, including a blocked field goal attempt by Nathan Bernal and a blocked punt, courtesy of Stanley Thomas. In addition, Zach Grisotti was a perfect 2-for-2 with this kicks, including a made PAT as well as a 30-yard field goal to go along with 35.5 yards per punt. 

"Our special teams group gave us a spark and hopefully, that spark will spread to the rest of our group," Gonzalez said. "We are moving forward and we are working with the guys on just focusing and concentrating more on what they have to do -- the little things -- to keep us moving forward. Nobody is feeling sorry for themselves and they're working hard this week to get better."

The OCC quarterback tandem of Brandon Cannella (38-of-81, 388 yards, 1 TD) and J.D. Rafkin (39-of-74, 485 yards, 3 TDs) are both taking equal snaps at practice and both should see plenty of action on the field this week against the Vaqueros. Even with a rough game against the Owls, the running back trio of J.P. Segura-Queijeiro (55 carries, 314 yards, 2 TD), David Hernandez (57-230) and Colin Gregg (36-165) are still averaging 141 rushing pards per game and tight end Edwin LaCrosse leads the Pirates with 20 receptions, good for 192 yards and a touchdown this year.

The task won't be easy as the Pirates (1-4, 0-1) head up to Glendale College (3-2, 1-0) to take on a Vaquero squad fresh off of a 52-20 win over West L.A. on Saturday. 

Glendale QB Nicholas Garcia has thrown for 730 yards and 10 touchdowns on 62-of-95 passing through four games (one win for GC came via forfeit against L.A. Pierce). But with six interceptions thrown on the season, look for the OCC secondary, led by Corey Sampson's team-best two interceptions, to be aggressive and try to create turnovers in the defensive backfield.

Running back Kevin Armstead has been solid for the Vaqueros this year, rushing for 431 yards and three touchdowns on 78 carries, while the pass-catching duo of Nick Johnson and Artis Cole have combined for 33 receptions for 522 yards and nine TDs.

"We've played some good teams all season long and Glendale is no exception," Gonzalez said. "They're a good all-around team and they do a good job of executing their gameplan on both sides of the ball with the speed and size. But like I've said all year, I think we matchup well with them and if we can avoid those mental mistakes, I think we will compete well with them.

"We are approaching this game with the goal of going 1-0 for the week. We still have a opportunity at competing for a league title and our kids are ready for the challenge. They've got something to prove out there ... that they are a good football team and they need to show it this week."