Dawkins Gives Orange Coast the Finishing Touch

As James Dawkins ran down field, bouncing off defenders and breaking tackles, the Orange Coast College running back wasn’t thinking about a game-clinching touchdown or a Mission Conference Central Division championship.

His 52-yard fourth-quarter touchdown run helped produce both in a 32-18 Orange Coast victory over Saddleback Saturday at OCC, but the sophomore running back had only one thought on his mind.

“Just hold onto the ball,” said Dawkins, who scored the game’s final points with 4 minutes 20 seconds to play just two plays after the Gauchos had pulled to within a touchdown. “I was just covering up the ball, running into guys and all of a sudden my feet were still moving.”

The Orange Coast victory, combined with a Palomar victory over Golden West and a Fullerton loss to Santa Ana, gives Orange Coast a co-championship of the Central Division with Palomar. It is the first division title for OCC since 1990.

Orange Coast (6-4, 4-1) must now wait for the bowl selection committee to decide if its season will continue with a postseason game. The committee, made up of 16 community college football experts throughout the state, meets today to select 12 Southern California teams that will play in six bowl games.

Orange Coast has not played a postseason game since the 1993 Orange County Bowl.

“This team definitely deserves a chance to play another week,” Orange Coast Coach Mike Taylor said. “I think this season has reestablished that this team can play.”

The Pirates, who were 4-6 in 1999, started the season 0-3, scoring just nine points in those games, but went on to win five consecutive games.

That streak included victories over Mt. San Antonio, the top-ranked team in Southern California, and Palomar, ranked No. 10.

The streak ended last week against Fullerton, but Taylor said it was a distant memory after Monday.

“Monday was a tough day, but we came to practice Tuesday and buried [that loss],” Taylor said. “We knew we had some business to take care of and we came out and battled.”

Saddleback was within 18-15 by halftime, but the Gauchos (3-7, 2-3) committed two second-half turnovers and could not keep the momentum. Orange Coast linebacker Justin Blackard intercepted a Jason Whieldon pass at the Orange Coast goal line with 3:35 to play to seal the victory.

In other Mission Conference Central Division games:

Santa Ana 35, Fullerton 23--Fullerton quarterback Jeff Crooks broke a 45-year-old school record for total offense, but Grant Wagner generated enough offense to get Santa Ana its second win. Wagner threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns and fullback Steve Warfield also scored twice for the host Dons (2-8, 2-3).

Crooks, Santa Ana’s quarterback, gained 294 yards, giving him 2,343 for the season, breaking Gary Campbell’s mark of 2,336 in 1955. He completed 14 of 33 passes for 240 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

Wagner threw a 54-yard first-quarter scoring pass to Blake Harano and Warfield scored from the one as Santa Ana took a 14-0 lead. Matt Gogan’s one-yard run put Fullerton (4-6, 3-2) on the board before halftime.

Palomar 56, Golden West 7--Brandon White scored on a 52-yard pass play in the first quarter to tie the score, 7-7, and provide the only offensive highlight for Golden West (0-10, 0-5), which lost its 30th consecutive game.