Strong effort comes up short for Pirates over Vaqueros

SANTA BARBARA -- The Orange Coast College football team continues to show great fight and strong determination, but the rewards have been limited at best. On Saturday, another gritty effort came up just a few points short as the Pirates fell to Santa Barbara City College, 24-19, in a nonconference matchup at SBCC.

The stats are a head-scratcher for the Pirates (0-3), who held the Vaqueros (1-2) to just 150 yards of TOTAL offense, including a minus-12 yards rushing for the game, while racking up 398 total yards (248 passing, 150 rushing). Coast also dominated the time of possession 2-to-1, but just couldn't get over the hump in the category that matters the most ... the final score.

Zach Congalton threw for 242 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions on 26-of-52 passing. Anthony Osario rushed for a team-best 65 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries with Congalton (14-62) and Paul Mendoza (10-23) adding to the OCC ground game.

Top receiver targets for Congalton and the Pirates were Jeremiah Espitia (9 catches, 96 yards), Isaiah Esquibel (9-92, 1 TD) and D'michael Glenn (6-45).

The defensive trio of Jayden Niumata, Charlie Iafeta and Tasi Sauta each had six tackles to lead the Pirate defense. Niumata added a sack and 2.5 tackles for loss, while Sauta added 1.5 sacks and 2 tackles for loss.

Early struggles doomed the Pirates in this one as they fell behind 16-0 through 2 1/2 quarters of play. Coast finally found success after taking advantage of a short field, capping off a three-play, 35-yard drive with a touchdown when Congalton found Esquibel for a 19-yard touchdown strike to make it 17-7.

But, that momentum was short-lived as Santa Barbara's Tyreke Fortney took the ensuing kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown, pushing the lead back up to 24-7.

Coast trimmed the deficit to 10 with 8:40 remaining in the game when Congalton hooked up with Joseph Near on a 4-yard touchdown pass, making it 24-13 after the missed PAT.

After a SBCC punt gave the ball back to Coast, the Pirates again marched down the field in 11 plays, covering 77 yards with a 12-yard touchdown run by Osorio bringing Coast to within four at 24-19 after a failed 2-point attempt.

Coast again forced the Vaqueros into a punt, but the Pirates had only 1:13 remaining on the clock to go 65 yards for the winning score. Finally, with 10 seconds left, Santa Barbara ended the Pirate hopes with an interception near the SBCC 5-yard line to ensure victory.

The Pirates will return to LeBard Stadium on Saturday for Student-Athlete Appreciation Night when they take on Cerritos College, beginning at 6 p.m.