OCC tries to stay unbeaten

Now that the Orange Coast College football team has established itself as one of the top teams in Southern California with a victory over Palomar Saturday, the Pirates face a new type of competition.

As the No. 6-ranked team in Southern California, opponents now draw motivation from the chance to knock the Pirates (3-0 for the first time since 1991) from their short-lived pedestal.

No. 20-ranked Pasadena (2-1) is the first in line to do just that. Kickoff is at 5 p.m. today at OCC.

Pirates’ Coach Mike Taylor knows the motivation for his team will not come as easily as it did against Palomar, which held a five-game winning streak over Orange Coast prior to Saturday.

“Coming off a big win it’s tough,” Taylor said. “There’s more at stake. Players need to realize that when you win, people notice you. People are looking for you to win now.”

Taylor said after the 28-21 come-from-behind victory over Palomar, the Pirates’ freshmen, eight of whom are starters, are no longer first-year players.

Shaun Mohler, a Corona del Mar High graduate and one of four freshmen on defense, made 18 tackles Saturday to earn Mission Conference Defensive Player of the Week laurels.

“They’re not freshmen anymore, they’re experienced players,” Taylor said. “We have better players at this point of the year across the board than we’ve had.”

While Pasadena is not scoring as well as Palomar, only putting up a hair over 28 points per game, the Lancers do pile on the yards at 450 per contest, which ranks No. 5 in the state.

“They have a new coaching staff and all of their coaches came from [Mt. San Antonio College],” Taylor said. “They have better coaches and better players. This is the second-best team we’ve played.”

What bodes well for OCC and its struggling offense is that Pasadena is not ranked in the top 20 in the state in any defensive category.

The problem for OCC has not been points — the Pirates average 31 a game — it has been yards. The Pirates average a paltry 210 yards a game, fewest in the 12-team Mission Conference. Part of that has to do with a stifling defense, and a special teams unit that has decreased the area the offense has to work with.

“They say you win with defense and special teams,” Taylor said. “I guess we are the poster child for that.”

Still, Taylor is looking for a breakout game from his offense today.

“We need to have the offensive line control the line of scrimmage as a group,” Taylor said. “I’d like to see our quarterback [Kekoa Crowell] have a good game statistically. And [Damola Adeniji] needs to catch some passes.

“[Pasadena’s] defense is solid. We’re going to have to play well to win and I think we will.”