Pirates knock off Griffins, 35-19

EL CAJON – Orange Coast College surrendered 541 yards and gained just 263, but still managed to earn a 35-19 victory over host Grossmont in a Southern Conference football game Saturday.

The Pirates opened leads of 14-0, 28-7 and 35-13 to improve to 3-4, 1-1 in conference and drop the Griffins, ranked No. 14 in the state and No. 7 in Southern California, to 4-3, 0-2.

OCC safety Sherrod Page had two of the Pirates’ three interceptions, while A’Brae Booker-Curin and Shane Beaver each had a pair of rushing touchdowns. Bryce Garcia added an interception and freshman defensive end Daniel Garcia had a team-best eight tackles, including one sack, to help OCC post its third straight win over the Griffins.

OCC quarterback Kody Whitaker completed 11 of 19 passes for 153 yards, one touchdown and one interception, while James Rutledge had four catches for 97 yards for the Pirates, including a 53-yard scoring pass.

Grossmont which had 437 passing yards, had touchdown passes of 95, 37 and 22 yards. But it wasn’t enough to deny the Pirates their first conference win.

OCC will play host to district rival Golden West (3-4, 2-0) in a conference clash on Saturday at 6 p.m.

— From staff reports