COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOOTBALL ROUNDUP : Orange Coast’s Victory Lifts the Spirits of a Fallen Coach

Bill Workman, Orange Coast football coach, started his day by falling flat on his face. But things ended on a much more positive note for him and his team.

The Pirates beat Golden West, 13-3, in a Mission Conference Central Division game Saturday at OCC. With the victory, Orange Coast (7-3, 4-1) earned a berth in the Dec. 4 Orange County Simple Green Bowl.

Invitations have been extended for Cerritos to play Riverside at 1 p.m. and Mt. San Antonio to play Orange Coast at 8 p.m. in the doubleheader.

It was OCC’s second consecutive bowl bid and its third in four years. The Pirates lost to Los Angeles Harbor, 9-3, in the K-Swiss Bowl last year.

But until the final gun, there had been only a few positives for Workman to think about. He wanted to trim a bush in his yard earlier in the day, but the ladder gave way and he fell eight feet, landing on his head.

The fall left him hardly able to move his neck, which made viewing the game difficult. But it might have been for the best, considering how his offense struggled in the first half.

The Pirates started five of six possessions in Golden West territory, but mustered only a 32-yard field goal by Gene Adair early in the second quarter.

Quarterback Todd Mather fumbled into the end zone, where it was recovered by Golden West’s Josh Lewis, stopping one drive. Another drive was halted when running back Jeff Clayton fumbled a pitch at the Golden West 13, where it was recovered by the Rustlers’ Parham Ghorban.

“If we score either time in the first half,” Workman said, “we have nothing to worry about in the second half.”

Clayton made up for his miscue with a 55-yard run around left end for a touchdown with 4 minutes 26 seconds remaining to put OCC ahead, 13-3.

Orange Coast’s defense set up the Pirates’ other score. Defensive lineman Efriam Miranda sacked Golden West quarterback Steve Walker, causing a fumble. It was recovered by Noa Pua at the Golden West 36.

Five plays later, Adair kicked a 38-yard field goal to put OCC ahead, 6-3, with 6:14 to play.

OCC’s defense was especially tough in the third quarter. Golden West had possession for 13:03 of the 15 minutes but got only a 29-yard field goal by Mark Wersching.

In other Mission Conference Central Division games:

Rancho Santiago 31, Saddleback 27--Visiting Rancho Santiago (4-5-1, 2-3) beat Saddleback for only the second time in 13 meetings. Donnie Bladow had 99 yards in 15 carries and scored a touchdown for Rancho Santiago. Gabe Garcia was 16 of 20 for 174 yards and rushed for two touchdowns for Rancho Santiago. Saddleback, the defending national champion, ended the season 5-5, 2-3.

Riverside 23, Fullerton 7--Riverside (6-4, 5-0) won its sixth consecutive game and clinched the division title outright. Josh Nelson was 17 of 29 for 225 yards for Fullerton (3-7, 0-5), which lost its final five games.