Hornets finish off Pirates

Barry Faulkner

If a football game was merely a turf war, the Orange Coast College

football team would have planted its flag in Fullerton territory

Saturday and proceeded to celebrate.

Instead, the Pirates had arguably their most frustrating loss of

the season -- a 28-14 Mission Conference setback -- falling to 0-4

this fall and extending their losing streak to eight.

Eight of the first 10 Orange Coast possessions ended on the

Fullerton side of the 50-yard line, but only two culminated in

points. OCC’s failure to finish allowed the defending conference

champion Hornets (4-0) to erase a 14-7 halftime deficit and overcome

some atypical miscues of their own.

The game began poorly for the visitors, as Fullerton’s Camron

Carmona intercepted an ill-advised deep pass from Kyle Basanez and

the Hornets marched 87 yards on eight plays to help assure the home

crowd at Cal State Fullerton that it might be business as usual for

the hosts.

But the Pirates had other ideas.

Defensive end Sam Islas forced a fumble and safety Mordy Ornguze

recovered at the Pirates’ 5-yard line to halt Fullerton’s next

possession and the offense embarked on its most impressive drive of

the season.

Exploiting Fullerton defense with repeated toss sweeps around the

left side and protecting Basanez, who completed 5 of 6 passes on the

procession, OCC went 95 yards on 14 plays to tie the game.

Matt Downs, starting at tailback for leading rusher Matt Padilla

(injured ankle), ran 3 yards for the touchdown to end the 6-minute,

23-second possession. Adam Kleckner added the conversion kick.

OCC tackle Ryan Davis recovered a fumble on the first play after

the ensuing kickoff, but the Pirates opted for a pooch punt when

their ensuing possession stalled at the Hornets’ 33.

Fullerton went three-and-out on its next possession and a shanked

punt covered just 17 yards, setting the visitors up at the Hornets’

30.

Tight end Jon Garcia stretched to haul in a Basanez pass for 16

yards on first down and three Robert Aoki runs covered the remaining

yards, as the sophomore carried in from 2 yards out with 7:38 left in

the half to give OCC a lead for the third time in four games this

fall.

OCC gained 49 yards on 10 plays with its next possession, but

punted from the Fullerton 40.

The Hornets opened the second half with a six-play, 63-yard

touchdown drive to pull even, then capitalized on OCC’s biggest

mistake for another score two plays after the ensuing kickoff.

The subject of the Pirates’ biggest regret came when Basanez,

under intense pressure as he rolled to his right, lofted an errant

offering directly to middle linebacker Dillon Bedard, who was

conspicuously positioned at least 10 yards from the nearest OCC

receiver.

After bobbling the aerial gift, Bedard hauled it in and rumbled

untouched to paydirt. Mauricio Garcia kicked the third of his four

PATs and Fullerton had all it needed.

OCC’s next three possessions reached as deep as the Fullerton 23,

25 and 9, respectively. But a punt and missed field-goal tries from

42 (Brian Campos wide left) and 41 yards (Kleckner wide right), kept

the visitors seven points behind.

Fullerton downed a punt at the OCC 1-yard line on its next

possession, then, after a Pirate punt, regained possession at the OCC

35.

Five plays later, Manny Gutierrez powered in from 2 yards out to

finalize the scoring.

“We’re getting close,” OCC Coach Mike Taylor said. “We’re getting

better and our offensive staff is working hard. But we need better

play from our cornerbacks and we need to make those field goals. [The

field goals] are a mental thing and a momentum thing. We control the

ball, then miss a kick.”

Downs picked up 56 rushing yards by halftime, but sat out the

final two quarters after suffering adverse effects of the heat.

“[Downs] ran out of gas,” said Taylor, whose team was also

weakened by injuries to offensive lineman Tommy Crowley and safety

Nick Snowden. Basanez also left the game late with an unspecified

injury that did not appear serious.

“Crowley hurt his shoulder and Snowden got dinged,” Taylor said.

“We had a lot of guys dinged.”

Crowley’s absence may have hurt most of all as OCC, already

lacking depth on the offensive front, was exploited for four

second-half sacks, resulting in losses of 23 yards.

Basanez utilized eight receivers to throw for 159 yards, including

six completions to Ryan Lauderdale for 72 yards.

The Pirates’ 313 yards total offense was a single-game high this

season, as were their 20 first downs.