ORANGE COUNTY BOWL : OCC Gets Boot on Missed Field Goal

Mark Recktenwald sat on one knee, his hand stretched out for at least 20 seconds after the ball left his hold. He held his position that long in disbelief as did his Orange Coast College teammates.

The reason was OCC kicker Mike Wade missed a 36-yard field goal with 54 seconds left, and El Camino defeated OCC, 23-20, in the second game of the Orange County Bowl doubleheader in front of 5,000 Saturday night at OCC.

Pasadena defeated Riverside, 29-28, in the first game.

Although it’s traditional to play for a victory instead of a tie in a bowl game, OCC Coach Bill Workman explained that fourth and eight was too much to ask of his offense.

“We talked about it earlier in the drive,” Workman said. “The only way we would play for the tie is if we had to get five yards or more. . . . It’s a chip shot though. There are no odds that he misses it. I hate ties, but it would have been a heck of a lot better than what happened.”

But about 10 minutes before the missed field goal, it looked as if OCC wasn’t going to need any late-game heroics.

The Pirates (8-3) took a 20-10 lead on two second-half touchdown passes from quarterback Greg Angelovic to tight end Derek Whiddon. The first, for seven yards, came with one minute 24 seconds left in the third quarter. It gave OCC a 13-10 lead.

The second came when Angelovic threw a 35-yard scoring pass to Whiddon with 9:07 left. Whiddon had a game-high nine catches for 128 yards but his first-half fumble cost OCC a score.

The Pirates had driven 75 yards to the El Camino 18 with 27 seconds left in the first half. Angelovic then completed a pass Whiddon, who caught the ball at about the three-yard line and turned toward the end zone. But in the process, he fumbled into the air and El Camino linebacker Jim Rudberg recovered.

El Camino took a 10-7 lead on a two-yard scoring run by fullback Tony DaCosta with 1:51 left in the half. The play capped an 82-yard drive that included a 52-yard run by Anthony Daigle.

Daigle scored on a one-yard run with 2:29 remaining to give El Camino a 23-20 lead. Daigle, who was selected player of the game, had 163 yards in 23 carries.

El Camino (9-2) had scored on a 10-yard pass from quarterback Rod Harvey to Bryan Reeves with 9:07 left. El Camino attempted the two-point conversion, but failed, and trailed, 20-16.

OCC had taken a 7-0 lead on a one-yard keeper by Angelovic with 3:47 left in the first quarter. The score was set when OCC defensive back Terrence Branley intercepted a pass and returned it 22 yards to the El Camino one.

Angelovic was 16 of 26 for 211 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Adrain Steen rushed for 85 yards in 19 carries.

Pasadena 29, Riverside 28--Ostell Miles gained 50 of his 164 yards on the winning drive, including a one-yard touchdown run with 3:03 left, and James Marlborough passed to Wolfe Barber for the two-point conversion as the Lancers (8-3) won the first game of the doubleheader.

Riverside (7-4) had a chance to win, but Jeff McDaniel missed a 32-yard field goal attempt with 27 seconds left. The Tigers had taken a 28-21 lead with 5:32 left on a one-yard run on fourth down by quarterback Jack Manu.