Orange County Community College Football : OCC Gains Experience With Jarrett’s Transfer

The most important asset Keith Jarrett brought to Orange Coast College when he decided to transfer from Boise State was a season of Division I football experience.

Jarrett, who started as a freshman for Boise State, threw for more than 1,100 yards. But when a new coaching staff was hired, Jarrett didn’t think he would get a fair chance to start again and decided to transfer.

“It’s nice to have a quarterback that knows our system,” said OCC Coach Bill Workman, who also coached Jarrett at Edison High School in 1984. “But his experience is what’s really important. He calls a lot of audibles out there.”

Jarrett, who has completed 74 of 129 passes for 1,043 yards and 11 touchdowns, will lead first-place OCC (4-0, 3-0) against defending champion Riverside (2-2, 2-1) at 1 p.m. today in a Mission Conference game at LeBard Stadium.

Although Jarrett runs the conference’s most potent offense (38 points a game), he is only part of its success.

Running back Bart Recktenwald leads the conference in rushing and scoring, and wide receiver Junior Tagaloa is second in receptions.

“There were more reasons than the chance to play for Bill again,” Jarrett said about his transfer. “I knew Junior was a good receiver and that Bart would be switching to offense.”

But the switch hasn’t been completely smooth for Jarrett, who has been intercepted five times.

Against Rancho Santiago in the season’s second game, Jarrett completed only 2 of his first 10 passes and had 2 interceptions. He missed open receivers four times, but his receivers also dropped some passes. Jarrett recovered to finish 24 of 43 for 279 yards and 2 touchdowns.

“I think it’s just getting used to my teammates,” Jarrett said.

In other Mission Conference games:

San Diego Mesa (2-2, 2-1) at Saddleback (2-2, 2-1), 7:30 p.m.--Mesa’s pass offense (averaging 319.5 yards a game), the best in the conference, presents a problem for Saddleback, which has the worst pass defense (allowing 267.8 yards a game).

Last week, Saddleback went to the no-huddle offense and scored 21 first-quarter points, and the defense was able to keep Riverside from scoring until the fourth quarter in a 35-21 victory.

Southwestern (3-1, 2-1) vs. Rancho Santiago (1-3, 0-3) at Santa Ana Stadium, 7:30 p.m.--Rick Burns, Rancho Santiago’s sophomore quarterback, was 28 of 55 for 367 yards in a 21-18 loss to San Diego Mesa last Saturday and is 80 of 141 for 1,004 yards and 5 touchdowns and 5 interceptions for the season. Sophomore wide receiver Chuck Zacour has 19 catches for 179 yards.

In the South Coast Conference:

Mt. San Antonio (2-2, 0-1) vs. Fullerton (2-2, 1-0) at Fullerton District Stadium, 7:30 p.m.--Fullerton is last in total offense, averaging 253.5 yards a game, and running back Andrew Greer, who rushed for 917 yards last season, has run for only 274 yards in 67 carries this season.

Long Beach (2-2, 0-1) vs. Golden West (2-2, 1-0) at Orange Coast, 7:30 p.m.--Last week, Golden West was able to use its starting offensive line for the first time this season, but by the end of the first quarter, four other Rustlers were injured.

Running back Blaise Bryant and wide receiver Mike Crowley both sprained ankles. Free safety Ralph Morrison injured his knee and linebacker Todd Conway injured his hand. All four are questionable tonight.