Pirates prepping for showdown with Falcons
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cerritos (3-1) | 14 | 28 | 13 | 13 | 68 |
|
Orange Coast (0-4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College football team will look to start a new chapter in the 2025 season book as the Pirates open National Conference, Central Division play on Saturday against Cerritos College, beginning at 6 p.m. inside LeBard Stadium.
Coast (0-3) is hoping for a faster and more successful start to the game after back-to-back tough starts against Southwestern two weeks ago and last week against Mt. San Jacinto. Against the Eagles, the Pirates fell into a 29-0 first quarter hole and, while holding the Eagles to just 13 points the rest of the way, the damage was already done.
Backup quarterback Keanu Vasquez made the most of his opportunity off the bench, throwing for 230 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 21-of-39 passing for the Pirates. With just 51 total rushing yards last week, Coast had to move through the air to find success. Skylar Thompson led the way with 83 receiving yards on five receptions, while teammate Nicholas Cervantes caught a team-high six passes for 60 yards. Grady Chancellor scored both OCC touchdowns on passes from Vasquez, with eight total OCC players catching at least one pass in the game.
Jayden Niumata led the Coast defense with 10 total tackles (five solo), while teammate Mike Lozano wasn't too far behind with eight tackles (six solo).
MSJC's Julian Silva threw for 237 yards and a touchdown on 16-of-24 passing, while the Eagle ground game rushed for four touchdowns.
Up next for the Pirates is the Cerritos College Falcons (2-1), who have won two straight after a season-opening loss to Mt. San Antonio. Since that setback, Cerritos has outscored the last two teams by a combined 89-17.
In last week's 66-17 blowout win over Santa Barbara, the quarterback tandem of Nick Mali and Jeremiah Calvin combined to throw for 277 yards and six touchdowns on 13-of-19 passing. Receivers Michael Ashford, Charles Clinton II and Malachi Wright combined for only six receptions, but four of those grabs went for touchdowns.
