COASTERS: Confidence can go a long way

Steve Virgen

It’s amazing what confidence can do. I’m talking about faith,

self-esteem, the “I-can”. Amazing.

Confidence creates the greatest of athletes and turns them into

winners.

It’s not talent or adrenaline. No. It’s confidence -- the type that

makes a grocery store clerk into an NFL and Super Bowl MVP quarterback.

And the confidence keeps him throwing so much that it makes you forget

Kurt Warner used to be a bagboy.

That confidence breeds respect.

It’s the same confidence that drove the Orange Coast football team to

back-to-back upset wins over Mt. San Antonio and Pasadena City, both on

the road, both teams ranked and undefeated.

If you think Warner and the Bucs should not be a comparison, let’s

review the facts.

This is the same team that people used to laugh at. The Bucs were the

joke that could go hand-in-hand with the San Diego Chargers.

No offense Bucs, but really, you had no offense. One touchdown in

three weeks. A quarterback carousel that had Coach Mike Taylor saying,

“Neither one is getting the job done.” A 30-0 shutout at the hands of El

Camino on the OCC turf. And then next up on the schedule: at No. 4 in the

nation Mt. SAC. Talk about against all odds.

So what did the Bucs do? Rely on talent? Rely on a gameplan?

Nope. Confidence.

It was the little Bucs that could, and did.

When we were all surprised about the Bucs beating Mt. SAC, they went

and did it again at Pasadena. A fluke? Think again.

Kicker Rob Pate, the same skinny guy with the wobbly kick who ended

the hopes of a state championship for Mt. SAC, booted three field goals

against PCC. His 42-yarder in the fourth quarter proved to be the

game-winner. Yes, that’s confidence.

Robbie was once told he wasn’t a good enough kicker for the varsity

team at Edison High. Confidence got him to OCC. If you were reading about

it last week, you already know his story.

Well then what about Justin Dale? He’s the 5-foot-9, 175-pound wide

receiver who caught five passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns at PCC.

“I’ve had the challenge all my life,” Dale said of playing with his

body frame. “But I have confidence. I don’t even think about it on the

field because when I look at somebody in the eye, we’re like even. I

trained pretty hard in the offseason. I have confidence in my game.”

Confidence was not just illustrated in Dale, but in Pate, Higgs, Manny

Adams and the rest of that pestering OCC defense. Against PCC, the top

offense in the Mission Conference, Adams finished with 11 tackles (one

for a loss), a pass broken up and and an interception to earn the

coaches’ Player-of-the-Game honors. Linebacker Justin Blackard also had a

strong game, totaling 14 tackles.

And now the Bucs have a bye week before they enter into Mission

Conference Central Division play. I believe they will continue to ride

the momentum and their confidence en route to a divisional championship

title. The games that will determine OCC’s path to a championship are

Oct. 28 at home against Palomar, and Nov. 11, at Fullerton, an

ever-improving ball club.

The Bucs have experienced the woes of an entire season in five games.

They endured the frustrations of an impotent offense. But, they responded

as champions with upset wins. And now they are making believers of

everyone.

First up on the schedule, after the bye: rival Golden West. An easy

win?

Though the Rustlers have become the perennial losers of junior college

football, anything can happen. Just ask the Bucs, they’ll be the first to

tell you: confidence can work wonders.