OCC struggles continue

ESCONDIDO — As if the Orange Coast College football team’s defense wasn’t already peeved enough with the Pirates’ offense, the OCC special teams gave cause for even more frustration Saturday.

A blocked punt and an ill-advised pass by OCC punter David Harrington after he had dropped a punt snap helped lead to 10 Palomar points and the Comets went on to record a 22-10 triumph in the Mission Conference American Division opener for both teams at Escondido High.

The OCC defense, led once again by sophomore All-American outside linebacker Shaun Mohler (13 tackles), did its job, limiting Palomar (5-1, 1-0 in the division) to 99 yards of offense in the first half, 145 rushing yards for the game and just 123 passing yards. The Pirates sacked Palomar sophomore quarterback Hunter Wanket eight times for 67 yards in losses.

OCC safety Shad Baichtal made a leaping interception at his own two-yard line to halt one Palomar scoring threat. In addition, OCC forced Palomar to attempt three field goals, two of which the Comets converted. The one field goal the hosts missed, came after a 30-yard run on a fake punt that set the Comets up with a first down at the OCC 12.

The Pirates’ offense, which came in ranked 11th in the 12-team conference in points and yards per game, continued its struggles.

OCC quarterback Sean Hakes was sacked in the end zone for a safety to give Palomar its first points.

And, after using eight plays to march to the Palomar 10, before settling for a 27-yard Cody Morrow field goal on the opening possession of the game, the Pirates were blanked until sophomore receiver Craig Villapando made a circus catch on a 34-yard touchdown pass from sophomore reserve Chris Debowski to finalize the scoring with 1:59 left in the game.

Villapando reached around a defender and somehow managed to grasp the ball near the goal line. As both Villapando and Comets cornerback Michael Wright fell in the end zone, Villapando pulled the ball away to clearly earn possession. The play ended a eight-quarter touchdown drought for OCC.

OCC (2-4, 0-1), which has now lost four straight, managed just 79 yards rushing and continued what Coach Mike Taylor has taken to calling its carousel at quarterback. Hakes completed 10 of 16 for 124 yards, but threw one interception.

After Hughes was just one for three for 12 yards, Debowski connected on just four of 11 for 82 yards.

Wanket, when he wasn’t being collared by a blitz-happy OCC pass rush, completed 12 of 20.

Freshman tackle London Sapolu had two sacks as six Pirates were credited with at least one.

Palomar freshman tailback Leiyon Myers collected 111 rushing yards on 25 attempts, including a three-yard touchdown plunge with 51 seconds left in the first half. The score capped a five-play, 34-yard mini-drive that began after the aforementioned Harrington pass gave the hosts possession.

“It’s kind of a weird deal,” Taylor said of OCC’s special teams breakdowns. We’ve been pretty solid the first five games.

“It was a defensive game for a long time and it was a hard-fought game.”

The intensity of battle didn’t stop when the whistle blew. OCC was flagged seven times for either unsportsmanlike conduct or a dead-ball personal foul. Palomar had three personal foul penalties and one unsportsmanlike flag. On two other occasions, unsportsmanlike penalties offset.

“It’s frustration,” Taylor said.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].

FIRST QUARTER

OCC – Morrow 27 FG, 10:13.

SECOND QUARTER

Pal – Safety: Pugh tackles quarterback in end zone, 14:08.

Pal – Myers 3 run (Carithers kick), 0:51.

THIRD QUARTER

Pal – Carithers 37 FG, 10:54.

FOURTH QUARTER

Pal – Carithers 40 FG, 14:50

Pal – Shanks 6 pass from Wanket (Carithers kick), 3:18.

OCC – Villapondo 34 pass from Debowski (Morrow kick), 1:59.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

OCC – Banks, 12-47; Debowski, 2-44; Ah-Hi, 6-9; Hughes, 2-minus-1; Barnett, 1-minus-1; Hakes, 4-minus-9.

Pal – Myers, 25-111, 1 TD; Grigsby, 6-52; De Luca, 1-30; Hill, 2-8; Team, 2-minus-2; Wanket, 12-minus-52.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

OCC – Hakes, 10-16-1, 124; Hughes, 1-3-0, 12; Harrington, 1-1-0, 9; Debowski, 4-11-0, 82, 1 TD.

Pal – Wanket, 12-20-1, 123, 1 TD.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

OCC – Barnett, 5-72; Hodge, 3-40; Villapondo, 1-34, 1 TD; Banks, 1-30; Hall, 3-21; Brown, 1-12; DeLeone, 1-9; Taylor, 1-9.

Pal – Hill, 5-49; Roberson, 2-38; Shanks, 2-13, 1 TD; Kumba, 2-13; Patterson, 1-10.