So, what’s new?

Tony Altobelli

It was a strange day of college football Saturday at both the

Community College and at the NCAA level.

Minnesota shocks No. 2 Penn State, 24-23, No. 7 Georgia Tech loses to

Virginia, 45-38, in the NCAA. On the JC level in the Mission Conference,

Palomar is stunned by Santa Ana, 19-17, Cerritos gets humbled by Mt. San

Antonio, 19-9, and Golden West ... well ... they still lost their

brazilionth game in a row, but it was a close, 21-19, loss to Riverside.

So it should have been no surprise that OCC and Long Beach City

College nearly played into the next millennium before their game was

decided, a 48-42, six-overtime thriller for the Pirates.

“I was getting tired of walking out to the middle of the field,”

quarterback Jared Flint said, referring to the multiple coin tosses in

the game. “We were telling Long Beach, ‘OK, it’s time for both of us to

go home now.”’

One thing’s for sure: when they got home, a good night of sleep was

had by all.

That puts LBCC, last year’s defending Northern Division champion,

deeper into the conference cellar with a record of 0-3. Where have you

gone, Markus Steele? The Vikings turn their lonely eyes to you, woo woo

woo. Sorry Simon and Garfunkel.

Once again it was the defense that came up huge for the Bucs. Don’t

let that 48-42 score fool you.

Only seven points were allowed in the first three quarters, a blocked

punt that turned into a touchdown, two interceptions in the overtime

frames and more bone-jarring hits than a year’s worth of Mike Tyson

fights.

One thing’s for certain about Jared Flint, he has the mentality to be

a great field goal kicker; no short-term memory whatsoever.

In the fifth overtime, Flint, after turning the ball over with a

chance to win, had to come right back onto the field to start the sixth

overtime.

On the first play, he found Raymond Ohrel for a 25-yard touchdown

pass, then followed that up with a two-point conversion pass to Devon

Griffin.

Don’t tell anyone, but with that win, OCC actually has a shot at

winning the Northern Division. All they have to do is beat Mt. San

Antonio at home and El Camino on the road.

How much of a shot? Mt. SAC is undefeated in the Northern Division

after defeating Cerritos and El Camino knocked off Palomar earlier in the

season.

Do I hear basketballs bouncing?

Bonehead I: To me. I thought that since it was “homecoming” for the

Pirates, that there would be a homecoming ceremony at halftime.

You know, kings, queens, hugs, balloons, tuxedos, more hugs, evening

gowns, borrowed convertibles to ride in, crying parents, fireworks, all

that fun stuff.

It turns out that there hasn’t been a traditional homecoming-type

event the past few years or so. Not enough support or interest, I guess.

Remember gang, the Rams and Raiders are gone now, they ain’t coming

back and no new team is coming here for a long, LONG time.

This is the best ya got, this side of high school, so support it. As I

step off my soapbox ...

Another funny occurrence, not really worth a “Bonehead” label.

In the third overtime, where a two-point conversion attempt is

mandatory and shortly after Long Beach City scored a touchdown, the

national champion OCC cheer squad tried to get the crowd into a cheer of

“BLOCK THAT KICK ... BLOCK THAT KICK ...”

It’s OK, cheersters, I didn’t know that rule either.

By the way, the one good thing about no homecoming was the OCC cheer

brigade performed flawlessly and showed off some incredible acrobatic

moves for the Pirate faithful for most of the intermission.

Can you say, REPEAT?