El Camino Defeats Orange Coast, 23-20

El Camino scored two touchdowns in the last seven minutes for a 23-20 victory over Orange Coast in the Orange County Bowl at LeBard Stadium Saturday night.

Orange Coast’s Mike Wade missed a 36-yard field goal with 54 seconds left in the game that could have tied the score. The loss was a heartbreaker for the fourth-ranked Pirates (8-3), who had not made a bowl appearance since 1975.

El Camino (9-2) will lay claim to the state championship after No. 2 Taft upset No. 1 Bakersfield, 34-30, in the Potato Bowl at Bakersfield on Saturday. The third-ranked Warriors beat Taft early in the season.

El Camino started slowly after a three-week layoff. The Warriors gained only 64 yards in the first quarter and quarterback Rod Harvey threw two interceptions in the first 10 minutes of the game. He finished with 17 completions in 26 attempts for 200 yards and a touchdown.

Tailback Anthony Daigle was named player of the game after rushing for 163 yards in 23 carries and scoring a touchdown.

Harvey’s second interception was a costly one. He threw it right in the hands of Orange Coast defensive back Terrence Branley, who returned the ball six yards to the El Camino one-yard line. Pirate quarterback Greg Angelovic scored the touchdown on a one-yard run with 3:47 left in the first quarter.

Louis Perez kicked a 40-yard field goal to cut the Pirates’ lead to 7-3.

Daigle set up El Camino’s first touchdown with a 52-yard run. Fullback Tony DaCosta scored four plays later on a three-yard run. That gave El Camino a 10-7 halftime lead.

Orange Coast regained the lead with 1:24 left in the third quarter when Angelovic connected with tight end Derek Whidden for a seven-yard touchdown pass. That gave the Pirates a 13-10 lead after they missed the extra point.

The Warriors made two costly turnovers in the fourth quarter. First Daigle fumbled at the Orange Coast one-yard line, then Anthony Cole fumbled a punt which the Pirates recovered at the El Camino 35. Angelovic threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Whidden on the first play for a 20-10 Orange Coast lead with 9:07 left to play.

El Camino rallied with a 69-yard drive that was capped by Harvey’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Bryan Reeves. That cut the Pirates’ lead to 20-16 after a two-point conversion attempt failed.

The Warriors scored the winning touchdown with 2:29 left. Reeves’ 23-yard run from the El Camino 46 set up Daigle’s one-yard touchdown run.