Pirates in battle of unbeatens

The numbers have, almost without exception, been impressive so far for the Orange Coast College football team.

Heading into tonight’s 6 o’clock home game against unbeaten Glendale, the Pirates are 3-0, ranked No. 17 in the state and No. 10 in Southern California.

Further, OCC ranks No. 1 in the state in rushing defense (minus-14 yards per game) and sophomore tailback Ray Holley is No. 2 in the state in rushing yards per contest (179).

But there is another number — No. 62 to be exact — that sticks in the craw of Coach Mike Taylor and his staff.

OCC ranks 62nd in the state in both passing offense (133 yards per game) and passing defense (244.3).

“We need to have more consistency in the passing game,” said Taylor, whose squad comes off an emotional 24-21 triumph over arch-rival Golden West last week. “We’ve had some dropped passes and we’ve had a couple touchdowns called back on penalties.

“And I’ve been pleased with our hustle on defense, but we’ve had some breakdowns in the secondary.”

All seven touchdowns scored by OCC opponents this season have been through the air.

Holley has amassed 537 yards and seven touchdowns on 97 attempts this season as the primary offensive weapon for OCC.

Sophomore quarterback Kyle Manning has completed 28 of 71 passes (39.4%) for 399 yards and three touchdowns. He has thrown four interceptions.

Glendale has also been keyed by a strong running game led by Jorge Chaidez. With 450 yards on 69 rushing attempts this season, he ranks No. 3 in the state in yards per game on the ground.

The Vaqueros have produced six of their 13 touchdowns through the air, as quarterback Steve Miller has completed 35 of 70 for 489 yards, to go with three interceptions.

“They have shown a little more balance, offensively, than we have,” Taylor said of tonight’s visitors. “They have a good football team.”

Taylor said he is not concerned with an emotional letdown following the wild celebration that capped the victory over Golden West.

“We’ve had a good week of practice and our walk-through [Friday] was actually much better than the one we had before the Golden West game.”

Taylor said he has challenged his players to respond in this battle of unbeatens.

“There will be fewer unbeaten teams in the state after this week, because a few of them are playing each other,” Taylor said. “I asked our kids whether they wanted to be 4-0 or just another team with one loss.”

In other news, Orange Coast has picked up Ohio State transfer Willie Mobley, a 6-foot-2, 240-pound defensive end who enrolled at OCC this week and may be eligible to play in late October, Taylor said.

Mobley, an all-state performer as a senior at Eden Praire High in Minnesota in 2007, is aiming to eventually land at UCLA, Taylor said.