Orange County Community College Football : Jarrett’s 4 Touchdowns Lead OCC : Quarterback Helps Pirates to Win Over Rancho Santiago

Orange Coast College quarterback Keith Jarrett passed for two touchdowns and ran for two more to lead the Pirates to a 35-21 victory over Rancho Santiago Saturday in front of 4,500 at LeBard Stadium at OCC. It was the Mission Conference opener for both teams.

Jarrett, a sophomore transfer from Boise State, was 24 for 43 for 229 yards passing and 2 interceptions as OCC rolled up 447 yards in total offense. He could have had a much better game except for some early mistakes. He completed only 2 of his first 10 passes for 27 yards and also had the interceptions in the first 10 passes.

Wide receiver Junior Tagaloa, who dropped two passes, tied his OCC record for catches in a game with 11. Tagaloa, who caught 11 against Saddleback last season, had 135 yards receiving against Rancho Santiago (0-1, 1-1).

OCC (1-0, 2-0) broke a 14-14 halftime tie when Jarrett threw a 14-yard pass for a touchdown to Bart Recktenwald with 7:28 left in the third quarter.

OCC went up, 28-14, when Jarrett scored on a one-yard run with 11:17 to go in the game. OCC’s drive had stalled on its 32-yard line, but a roughing-the-kicker call kept OCC alive. OCC moved the ball to the Rancho Santiago eight, and a pass interference call in the end zone moved the ball to the one.

Rancho Santiago quarterback Rick Burns threw a 44-yard pass for a touchdown to Jamie Nelson with 9:53 to go in the game to cut the OCC lead to 28-21.

But Recktenwald scored on a 13-yard run with 5:34 left to give OCC a 35-21 lead.

Jarrett completed a 12-yard pass for a touchdown to Tagaloa with 28 seconds left in the half to tie the score, 14-14.

Tagaloa also caught passes of 20 and 18 yards in the 7-play, 77-yard drive.

Rancho Santiago had taken a 14-7 lead when Burns completed an 11-yard pass for a touchdown to Ed Nasser, who made an over-the-shoulder catch with 1:24 left in the half.

Rancho Santiago had opened a 7-0 lead in the first quarter when Kerry Reed took a reverse and ran 41 yards around left end for a touchdown. Tackle Derek Sang made the key block.

OCC tied the score, 7-7, when Jarrett picked up a pitch by Recktenwald and ran it one yard for a score early in the second quarter. Recktenwald ran into a pack of defenders at one and flipped the ball back to Jarrett, who scored.

In other Mission Conference play:

Saddleback 35, Grossmont 0--Aly Diaz rushed for two touchdowns to lead Saddleback (1-0, 1-1) at Grossmont High School.

Saddleback, which was upset by El Camino last week, 21-16, also got a 32-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Howard Gasser to Kelly Ryan in the second quarter. Grossmont is 0-1, 1-1.

In nonconference play:

Taft 31, Fullerton 27--Gerald Williams rushed for 154 yards in 13 carries, including a 95-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to lead Taft, the top-ranked team in the state, at home. Fullerton’s Andrew Greer rushed for 60 yards in 16 carries and scored two touchdowns.

Fullerton is 1-2 and has a bye next week before opening South Coast Conference play at Long Beach.

Golden West 34, Ventura 6--Freshman Blaise Bryant rushed for 207 yards and 2 touchdowns in 18 carries to lead the Rustlers (2-1) in front of 500 at LeBard Stadium in an afternoon game.

Bryant, formerly of Cypress High School, broke an off-tackle play for a 51-yard touchdown run with 11:07 left in the third quarter to give Golden West a 14-6 lead. He also had a 77-yard touchdown run with 12:02 left in the game to give the Rustlers a 27-6 lead.

Bryant has rushed for 350 yards in 48 carries this season and is averaging 7.3 yards a carry.

“We either run off guard, tackle or around the end, and he does them all well,” Golden West Coach Ray Shackelford said. “He had a good game, but we also ran the ball well as a team.”

Golden West had 392 yards in total offense, 299 rushing.

Ventura (0-3) took a 6-0 lead when Nicko Rising intercepted a pass from Bill Marler and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown with 12:29 left in the half. The extra-point kick was wide.

Golden West took the lead, 7-6, when Mike Babb intercepted a pass and returned it 68 yards for a touchdown with 50 seconds left in the half.

Marler’s five-yard touchdown pass to Tony Garrett in the third quarter gave Golden West a 20-6 lead.

Chris Campos scored on a 17-yard run with 5:11 left in the game to give Golden West a 34-6 lead.