OCC Turns to Flint for Spark

Quarterback Jared Flint spent last fall as a redshirt at Indiana so it was no surprise when he got off to a bit of a slow start at Orange Coast this fall.

He may not have played in a game for a year, but he still remembered how to recognize a wide-open receiver.

His four-yard touchdown pass to Jason Rausch early in the third quarter started the host Pirates on the way to three touchdowns in the quarter. OCC went on to beat visiting Santa Ana, 28-17, in a Mission Conference game Saturday.

The score was tied at the half, 7-7, when OCC’s Woodrow Otis recovered a fumble on the first play of the third quarter. OCC, which has won two in row for the first time since 1995, eventually had a third-and-goal situation at the four.

A dive play was called, but when Flint came to the line, he looked to the right and saw that no one was covering Rausch for Santa Ana (0-3).

“Jason’s eyes were as big as volleyballs,” Flint said. “I did the cadence as quick as possible and threw it to him.”

Flint also ran seven yards for a touchdown and had a shuttle pass to Andre Stewart that resulted in a 68-yard touchdown play in the third quarter as the Pirates (2-1) opened a 28-10 lead.

OCC’s offensive outburst came after Coach Bill Workman gave up trying to establish the running game in the first half. The Pirates had 20 yards rushing in the first half.

“That wasn’t working,” Workman said, “so we went a different direction.”

That direction was toward Flint, who used a series of quick passes to take advantage of the distance the Santa Ana defensive backs were playing off the line of scrimmage.

Flint completed his last four passes of the first half and first six of the second half and finished 16 of 25 for 240 yards and three touchdowns. The freshman completed passes to 10 receivers.

Ivan Mercer and David Castleton, both transfers from Division I colleges, caught two passes each but Chris Brewer had a team-high three for 41 yards.

“That surprised a lot of people,” Flint said of the team’s depth at receiver. “Every one expects us to throw to Castleton and Mercer but guys like Brewer and Rausch do a great job also.”