Pirates look for another "W" on Saturday at MSJC

COSTA MESA -- The mood around the Orange Coast College football team was upbeat and chipper as the Pirates enjoyed the feeling that came from last week's 41-7 win over Santa Monica. But Coast needs to focus back into the upcoming task at hand as the Pirates head to Mt. San Jacinto College to take on the Eagles on Saturday at 1 p.m.

"It was a game these guys deserved to win," OCC head coach Bubba Gonzalez said about last week's victory over the Corsairs. "We talked all week about the importance of execution on both sides of the ball. The guys came out excited and played as a team for all four quarters. All three phases of our game -- offense, defense and special teams -- all made big plays for us early on and that allowed for us to gain confidence right away. It feels to come in on a Monday after a win and we enjoyed it ... but now we have to put all that aside and focus on getting ready for a very good Mt. San Jacinto team on Saturday."

Coast switched things up on offense and started Baylor Ayers at quarterback and the freshman didn't disappoint, accounting for five of OCC's six touchdowns (three passing, two rushing) as Coast rolled past the Corsairs, 41-7. Ayers finished with 205 passing yards on 18-of-25 attempts and finished off two drives with two TD runs of his own. "He's been getting better and better each week so we wanted to shake things up a little bit," Gonzalez said. "He showed a great ability to lead the offense and he's continued to improve with each practice."

One facet of the Pirate offense that showed improvement was the guys in the trenches, who helped contain the SMCC pass rush, while helping the Coast offense garner a season-best 435 yards of total offense, including 119 rushing yards from running back J.P. Segura. "With only one returner on the line, it takes time for all five guys to get on the same page and last week, those guys rose to the challenge and got it done," Gonzalez said. "For such a young group, everyone needed to have patience because one missed step up front and the play gets blown up. Every practice, they've kept the focus on what they've had to do to get better and they've worked hard. With each rep, they're getting more and more on the same page, which is great to see."

As for this week's opponents -- the Mt. San Jacinto College Eagles -- they have had a solid start to the 2022 season with a 3-1 record. The Eagle offense has been putting up video game-type numbers, averaging nearly 42 points per game. 

Eagles' quarterback Robert Coleman has paced this offensive success, throwing for 1,243 yards and 13 touchdowns with just one interception through four games, completing 67% of his pass attempts (94-of-140). Sophomore receiver Taliq Brown has led the way with 26 receptions for 359 yards and four touchdowns, while Taylor Tosches, Jevin Dorsey and Jaylen Magee each have two TD grabs themselves.

Magee is also the main guy out of the MSJC backfield, rushing for 323 yards and five touchdowns on 47 carries (6.9 yards/carry average).

"This is a sound football program that is well coached and I like to play teams like this, because we want our program to get to where they're at," Gonzalez said. "Our success last week of not giving up the big play, being accountable for your assignments, have good fundamentals on the little things and play a team-style of defense ... that's the same recipe for success we will need again this Saturday."