Community college football: Bucs look to save sinking ship

Steve Virgen

ESCONDIDO - After losing to rival Golden West College in a 35-24

upset last week, Orange Coast football coach Mike Taylor made sure he

would do everything in his power to stop the Pirates’ ship from sinking.

Taylor and his coaching staff held a long and intense meeting Monday.

It was sort of a brainstorm to prevent a downward spiral that can

possibly come after the loss to the Rustlers. The result: the Bucs have

to play with fear, Taylor said. Aside from the fear of a tailspin, OCC

will have to break out of its slump, a three-game losing streak, with a

Mission Conference Central Division game at first-place Palomar, which is

most likely seeking to avenge last season’s loss to the Bucs.

OCC (2-4, 0-1 in conference) and the Comets (5-1, 1-0) clash today at

1 p.m. at Escondido High. Palomar ranks No. 4 in Southern California, by

the state’s community college poll.

“We have to play up to our ability,” Taylor said. “I take nothing away

from Golden West. They beat us. That was kind of like your worst

nightmare. It leaves a bad taste. We had a serious meeting on Monday. And

we’ve had two of our best practices of the year. The downside of that is

that we’re playing against Palomar, the best team we’ve played. We’ll

play better because we’ll play scared.”

Taylor also noted quarterback Nick Higgs will remain the Bucs’

starter, but freshman Jason Kripavicius is also expected to see some time

under center.

Higgs, who started the final seven games for OCC’s co-championship

team last year, led the Bucs to two scoring drives last week. He revived

his connection with wide receiver Vince Strang, who broke out of a

two-game zero-catch slump and caught five passes for 182 yards.

However, the offense received a bit of a setback because starting

tailback and OCC’s leading ground-gainer, Niles Mittasch, is listed as

day-to-day with a neck injury. Sophomore Jared Kemp gets the starting nod

this week, while Leonard DeRoche and Randy Gaither will contribute.

The Bucs’ passing defense became its demise again against Golden West,

allowing 310 yards. OCC allows an average of 258 passing yards a game,

11th in the 12-team Mission Conference, while Palomar is the conference’s

No. 1 passing offense with 280 yards a game.

Quarterback Andy Goodenough, who has thrown for 1,669 yards and 16 TDs

on 138 of 208 passing for 66% with just six interceptions, runs the

Comets’ offense and his favorite target is Deondre Alexander (41

receptions for 690 yards and six touchdowns). Both are No. 1 in the

conference at their respective positions.