Pirates taking an early look

Bryce Alderton

School is back in session at Orange Coast College and not only in the

classroom.

Also, OCC’s football team is underway with mandatory summer

workouts, giving Coach Mike Taylor and staff a chance to evaluate

players, especially the incoming freshmen.

“The defense should be really good,” Taylor said. “And we will be

young on offense.”

Among the many freshmen expected to be out at Coast’s practice

field two nights a week from 6 to 8 p.m. are ex-Edison defenders

Bubba Reynolds (linebacker) and cornerback Andy Avila, along with

Riley Mahoney, a former linebacker from Trabuco Hills, and defensive

end Justin Williams, a Mission Viejo graduate.

On offense, Taylor expects to see former San Clemente quarterback

Beau Budde, offensive tackle Blake Sorber (Huntington Beach) and

Roderick Haynes, a running back from Germany.

Haynes competed in a German high school football league and raced

to “many touchdowns,” Taylor said.

Haynes will attempt to fill the void left by departed-sophomore

tailbacks Niles Mittasch and Steven Mahelona. Mittasch will redshirt

at the University of Oregon while Mahelona earned a scholarship to

play at Division II-Tusculum in Greeneville, Tenn.

Sophomore quarterback Derek Aspinwall returns to Coast, while

Kelika Higa, a former quarterback and receiver at Chapman University,

should add to the offense, Taylor added.

The team’s Most Valuable Player a year ago as a freshman --

defensive end Jesse Mahelona -- has already received scholarship

offers from Division I schools such as UCLA, Colorado, Oregon and

Washington. He has added 15 pounds to what is now a 6-foot-2,

295-pound frame. A year ago, Mahelona led Coast with nine tackles for

a loss and matched linebacker Ryan Miller for the team lead in sacks

with six.

“He is rated one of the best defensive lineman in Orange County

for community college football,” Taylor said.

Coast scored five defensive touchdowns a year ago and, with a

relatively inexperienced offense entering this season, Taylor said

the Pirates might have to score even more often using their defense.

Taylor doesn’t expect the schedule to get any easier this season,

as the Pirates begin competing in the realigned American Division of

the Mission Conference. The conference’s athletic directors

unanimously approved the realignment at their winter meetings.

The conference now features an American and National division.

Coast will play three games against National Division foes (Santa

Ana, Fullerton and Saddleback) while facing American foes Long Beach,

Cerritos, Mt. San Antonio, Golden West and Palomar.

“We basically traded Pasadena for Long Beach, El Camino for

Cerritos and others,” Taylor said. “Everyone is pretty good. Each

game will be tough.”

The state’s Commission on Athletics approved a playoff system this

spring that features eight bowl games. Four teams each from the north

and the south will qualify for the postseason.

One team from the south and north will face one another in the

state championship game in Bakersfield in December.

Since more teams will qualify for the postseason, that means teams

that make the playoffs may have to play games Thanksgiving weekend.

Coast begins its season Sept. 6 at Glendale, a week earlier than a

year ago.

In the past, Coast participated in a scrimmage, but will not have

that luxury this year. That disappoints Taylor, but he contends,

“That is the way it goes.”

The Pirates’ first day practicing in pads will be Aug. 18.

The Orange County All-Star football game July 11 features several

Coast prospects, so Taylor will have a better idea of who his lineups

will feature once that game has passed.

Several ex-Coast players are getting ready for their collegiate

careers, while some are making it in the Arena Football League.

Linebacker Dan Steinau is scheduled to start for Central Michigan

in its opener against Michigan State this fall, while guard Ed Fane

and his teammates from Louisiana-Lafayette prepare to face Lou

Holtz’s South Carolina Gamecocks.

David Castleton and Jared Flint, along with Coach Sean Ponder,

Coast’s former offensive coordinator, are 8-5 for the Wichita Stealth

of the AFL-2 league.

Castleton, who played basketball at Cal State Fullerton following

a distinguished two-sport career at Coast, has five receptions for 90

yards in two games. Flint, a University of Hawaii product, has seen

action in nine games at quarterback.

Flint holds Coast’s career record for completions (311), attempts

(572) and passing yards (3,999).