OCC battles rival Golden West

Pirates seek to add sixth win to stay in contention for several bids to postseason bowls. The Orange Coast College football team might be playing for more than pride and bragging rights after all today at 5 p.m. against rival Golden West.

If the Pirates (5-4, 2-2 in the Mission Conference National Division), ranked No. 13 in Southern California, can defeat the visiting Rustlers (1-8, 0-4), in the regular-season finale, they may still find their way into one of six Southern California bowl games.

The California Community College Commission on Athletics will announce the bowl game participants on Sunday afternoon.

But whether or not the Pirates can extend their season, they would like to finish strongly, just as they did last season with a 33-32 win over the archrival Rustlers.

A 21-yard OCC touchdown pass with 18 seconds left was the difference last season, allowing the Pirates to close the gap in the series. Golden West takes a 19-17-2 series advantage into today’s game, the annual winner of which earns the perpetual bell trophy.

A victory would also give OCC a sixth win. Since the Pirates finished 7-4 in 1993, they have won as many as six games only once (2000).

The Pirates are coming off a 27-21 overtime loss to Cerritos that ended a two-game winning streak and cost them any hopes of sharing a National Division title or making it into the state championship bracket.

Orange Coast has been led all season by its defense. But the offense has been productive since freshman Kekoa Crowell took over at quarterback after the fifth game.

The OCC defense has been led by sophomore linebackers Dave Ronning and Aaron Miller, sophomore end Justin Williams and freshman cornerback Cory Nicol. OCC ranks third in the 12-team Mission Conference in scoring defense and total defense.

The 6-foot, 235-pound Williams, who often gives away as many as 100 pounds against opposing tackles, leads the conference in sacks (10.5) and tackles for loss (21).

Nicol shares the conference interception lead with six, while Ronning and Miller have 54 and 49 tackles, respectively.

Crowell has completed 75 of 153 passes for 883 yards and eight touchdowns. He has thrown eight interceptions. Crowell rushed for a season-high 88 yards on 17 carries against Cerritos.

The OCC ground game has been paced by sophomore tailback Robert Aoki, who has 684 yards and four touchdowns on 152 carries.

The Pirates’ leading receiver is sophomore Shane Hoffman, who has 25 catches for 391 yards and four touchdowns.

Golden West ranks last in the conference in total defense, scoring defense and pass defense. Offensively, the Rustlers rank fourth in the conference in passing offense.

Golden West quarterback Joey Halzle, a 6-4 freshman, has completed 162 of 344 passes for 1,962 yards. He has thrown 13 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions.

ORANGE COAST STARTERS