OCC’s fadeaway slide helps Dons score win

Barry Faulkner

The bye week awaiting the Orange Coast College football team after

Saturday’s 37-14 Mission Conference loss to Santa Ana might be

considered halftime in a 10-game regular season.

But anyone associated with the Pirates’ program would surely

choose another term.

The aversion to halftime has become clear for this year’s Bucs,

who, after allowing all 23 second-half points at the Santa Ana Bowl,

have been outscored, 92-19, after intermission this fall. Against

three conference foes this season, OCC has now been outscored, 58-0,

after halftime.

The loss dropped the Pirates to 0-5 and extended the school’s

losing streak to nine. It is OCC’s worst start since 1997, when it

opened 0-9, which, combined with an 0-8 finish in 1996, created a

school-record 17-game losing streak.

For the third straight game, OCC played an inspired first 30

minutes, this time driving 80 yards in 10 plays with the opening

kickoff to take a 7-0 lead. OCC then used a nine-play, 74-yard

procession to erase a 14-7 deficit with 1:00 left before the break.

But the Dons (4-1) turned the first possession of the second half

into a 39-yard Curtis Gladden field goal, then added three touchdowns

to avenge last year’s 36-6 upset loss to the Pirates.

After amassing 232 yards of total offense and 15 first downs in

the opening half, OCC managed just 57 yards and two first downs in

the final 30 minutes.

The Pirates made good on four of their first five

third-down-conversion attempts -- including all three in the

game-opening touchdown drive. But they were 1 for 8 on third down the

rest of the way. Only one of OCC’s six second-half possessions lasted

longer than four plays. The first four were all three-and-out.

The second-half futility might have been summed up best by one

play in OCC’s most promising possession midway through the final

quarter.

On third-and-five from the Santa Ana 28, OCC sophomore quarterback

Kyle Basanez delivered a perfect pass to the corner of the end zone,

just before being decked by a pass rusher. Receiver Brian Johnson was

behind his man and got both hands on the ball, before dropping the

sure touchdown and setting up a fourth-down incompletion.

Basanez, who, for the first time all season, was not sacked, threw

for 145 yards and rushed for 46 more. He drew praise from Coach Mike

Taylor as a bright spot for the visitors.

Another highlight was freshman tailback Matt Downs rushing for 80

of his 89 yards before intermission. Included in his first-half

success was a 26-yard TD jaunt set up by Johnson’s key downfield

block. The touchdown, along with Adam Kleckner’s conversion kick,

pulled the visitors even heading into halftime.

But Downs, who sat out the second half in a Week 4 loss at

Fullerton due to fatigue, watched the third quarter from the sideline

and carried just twice in the fourth quarter.

“I said to [Downs] at halftime, ‘Great half. How do you feel?’

Taylor said. “He told me he felt fine. But when the second half

started, he wasn’t in the game.”

Santa Ana had no such shortage in its backfield, as Newport Harbor

High product Dartangan Johnson rolled for 132 yards and one touchdown

on 25 carries.

Johnson, the Sailors’ all-time rushing leader with 3,397 yards as

a prep, came in as the leading ground gainer in the Mission

Conference and now has 719 rushing yards this season.

Santa Ana Coach Geoff Jones said Johnson, as well as the rest of

the Dons, were motivated to play well against OCC after last year’s

setback. Johnson had just 66 yards on 20 attempts against Orange

Coast as a freshman.

“Obviously Dartangan was a little lathered up today,” Jones said.

Santa Ana quarterback Daniel Morales also helped the Dons produce

524 yards of total offense. The freshman rushed for 75 yards on six

carries and completed 10 of 13 pass attempts for 164 yards and one

TD. His 40-yard touchdown on an option keeper with 1:48 left in the third quarter helped widen the Dons’ cushion to 24-14.

Morales found Jamin Shepard wide open for an easy 29-yard TD toss

to all but seal the win with 8:27 left in the game.

Ryan Davis and Ricky Miller had sacks for the OCC defense, while

freshman punter Brian Campos had his best day as a Buc. Campos

averaged 45.4 yards on five punts, including a 65-yarder.

Among the disappointments for OCC was a failed fake on a would-be

24-yard field-goal try midway through the second quarter. On

fourth-and-goal from the 7, OCC holder Chad Schmigel attempted a

shovel pass to a wing blocker that was broken up by a defender.