Rustlers ramble

Bryce Alderton

It looked for awhile like the battle for the Victory Bell would

hardly be a contest at all, that is until the Orange Coast College

football team stormed back to life in the second half against Golden

West.

The Pirates trailed, 21-0, early in the third quarter and scored

the final 18 points, but it was not quite enough as Golden West --

the designated home team -- defeated their arch rivals, 21-18, in a

Mission Conference American Division game Saturday night at LeBard

Stadium to reclaim the Victory Bell, which Coast had won last year,

in both teams’ season finale.

Golden West players raced toward the trophy stand, located behind

the north end zone, and began ringing the bell in celebration while

opponents shook their hands and shared laughs.

“These are two evenly matched teams,” OCC Coach Mike Taylor said.

“We came alive in the second half and played some defense, but just

couldn’t get it done.”

Coast’s defense, which entered the game ranked third in the

Mission Conference, allowed 37 of Golden West’s 124 rushing yards in

the second half and added sacks by freshman defensive end Justin

Williams and tackle Tim Ioane, making his second start of the season

at the position, to halt Rustler drives.

Coast (4-6, 1-4 in the American Division) took over on its own

27-yard line with five minutes, 21 seconds remaining, trailing,

21-18. But the Pirates went three-and-out and Bryce Sheridan’s

27-yard punt gave the Rustlers the ball at their own 47 and they used

eight plays to run out the final 3:45. The key play of the drive was

a 25-yard pass on third-and-16 from Todd Crabtree to Steven Yaden,

who finished with a team-leading 108 yards on five catches.

The Pirates were led largely by the arm of sophomore quarterback

Kelika Higa and the hands of 6-foot-2, 220-pound wideout Justin

Humalon. The two former St. Louis High (Hawaii) players connected on

touchdowns of 11 and 16 yards.

Each time Higa lobbed the ball toward the corner of the end zone,

Humalon used his stalky frame and leaping ability to convert the

touchdown.

“It was good placement,” Humalon said.

The freshman caught seven passes for 145 yards, including a

reception that netted 68 yards to set up Coast’s first TD in the

third quarter.

On first down and Coast at its own 21-yard line, Higa hit Humalon

on a crossing route over the middle.

Humalon cut back toward the sideline and sprinted to the Golden

West 11, ducking one defender and stiff-arming another before being

tackled. Higa threw for 299 yards, completing 21 of 32 attempts with

no interceptions.

Crabtree completed 20 of 27 attempts for 252 yards and no

interceptions.

Mike DeHart’s 22-yard field goal cut the Golden West lead to 21-10

with 6:24 to go in the third quarter.

The Rustlers (4-6, 2-3) missed a 41-yard field-goal try on their

opening drive of the fourth quarter and Coast used a six-play,

76-yard drive -- capped by Humalon’s 16-yard catch -- and a two-point

conversion on a pass from Higa to sophomore receiver Coleman Menke to

make it, 21-18.

Menke had five catches for 67 yards in his last game as a Pirate.

Sophomore safeties Nick Dominelli and Una Latu provided strong

coverage all night against Rustler receivers.

Sophomore linebacker Andy Howe batted down a Crabtree pass and

Chris Cassidy stopped a ball carrier for a 4-yard loss.

“We came together and showed heart,” Howe said. “After that first

half we told ourselves we were better than that. We squeezed by the

holes and hit them.”