TODAY’S COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Hatch Is Turning OCC Tradition Upside Down

After each football victory at Orange Coast College, a Pirate flag is proudly flown high in the south end of the stadium.

This tradition began when Coach Bill Workman arrived in 1986. But another victory celebration started this fall. One just has to look in just the right spot to see it.

A few seconds after the final gun, Lawrence Hatch, a sophomore cornerback, walks to the center of the field and shakes hands with players on the other team. Once clear of the crowd, he launches into a standing back flip.

Hatch started doing flips when he was about 10 years old during summers in Wisconsin with his family. He and a cousin were sitting on a fence and decided to jump off, but in an unconventional way.

“You had to land on your feet or you would die,” Hatch explains. “We just started doing it. I’m not sure why, but I’ve been doing it for years.”

Hatch was tempted to perform a flip in the end zone during last Saturday’s 24-19 victory over Saddleback. He had intercepted a pass and, with the help of blocks from linebacker Ernie Goddard and defensive lineman Tim Farnum, run 98 yards for a touchdown. That was a yard short of the OCC record.

But Hatch didn’t want to risk a penalty or show up the other team, so he went to the sidelines to do his flip. Hatch’s next chance will be when OCC plays at Fullerton at 7 tonight in a Mission Conference Central Division game.

Hatch came to OCC from Long Beach Jordan and started as a freshman last season. He was picked on a lot, mostly because of his inexperience.

He attended Artesian Well Christian Academy in North Long Beach until his senior year. The school didn’t have a football program, so he could only play basketball.

“I bugged my mother every day from seventh to 11th grade,” Hatch said. “Then she finally let me go to Jordan so I could play football. I always wanted to.”

Hatch, 6 feet 1 and 185 pounds, was a starting safety in high school, then came to OCC and had to learn to play cornerback. He brings the ability to learn quickly and great speed to the position. He was a J.C. Grid-Wire All-American.

“He may not be the fastest guy on the team,” Workman said. “But it would be a close race, and he would be right there.”

In today’s Mission Conference Central Division games:

Golden West (5-2, 4-2, 1-1) vs. Rancho Santiago (4-3, 3-3, 1-1) at Santa Ana Stadium, 1:30 p.m.--Golden West’s defense went from vaunted to haunted last Saturday as Fullerton scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns in a 24-23 victory. The Rustlers are still tops, allowing only 242 yards per game, 88 rushing.

But the assignment today is as hard as it has been all season--stop Estrus Crayton, or at least slow him down. Crayton has rushed for 865 yards, the best in Orange County.

Golden West will turn to running back Frank Vaccaro in an effort to keep the ball from Rancho Santiago. Vaccaro, who is averaging 88 yards per game, had 136 in the Fullerton loss.

Orange Coast (5-2, 4-2, 1-1) at Fullerton (6-1, 5-1, 1-1), 7 p.m.--Fullerton has outscored OCC, 88-29, in the past two meetings, but OCC hopes to stop the trend this time. For the Pirates to win, they will have to take advantage of Fullerton’s pass defense--or lack of it.

Fullerton’s pass defense is giving up a conference-worst 253 yards per game. Fullerton is the only local team ranked in the J.C. Grid-Wire top 20. The Hornets are fifth in the poll.

The Hornets will pay tribute to their 1965 team at halftime tonight. The team, which includes Rancho Santiago Coach Dave Ogas and Golden West offensive line coach Dennis Dixon, went 11-0 and won Fullerton’s first national championship.

Saddleback (4-3, 3-3, 1-1) at Riverside (5-2, 4-2, 1-1), 7 p.m.--It will be most important for Saddleback to stop Riverside’s running game, which averages a conference-leading 285 yards. Riverside ground up Rancho Santiago last Saturday, running almost twice as many plays in the second half as the Dons.

The game will match two fairly even defenses. Saddleback is allowing 293 yards, Riverside 295.