Cerritos visits Orange Coast

Pirates plan to honor 20-year assistant Briggs after 1 p.m. football game. Orange Coast College will honor assistant coach Paul Briggs for his 20 seasons with the football program after today’s 1 p.m. game against visiting Cerritos.

And the Pirates would like nothing better than to present him with a Mission Conference National Division victory.

Orange Coast (5-3, 2-1 in the division), ranked No. 8 in Southern California, is coming off back-to-back division road wins at Saddleback and Santa Ana. With victories in their final two regular-season games, the Pirates are hoping to receive a bid to a postseason bowl for the first time since 2000.

Coach Mike Taylor said the top 10 Southern California teams at the end of the regular season will compete in bowl games. The top eight will be in the state playoffs.

“If the season ended today, we’d be No. 8 and in the playoffs,” Taylor said. “But we can’t worry about a bowl. We’ve elevated ourselves with our last two wins and the kids are excited. But we need to keep their feet on the ground, because we’re not good enough to just show up and win games. Cerritos will be a tough game for us.”

Cerritos (3-5, 1-2) has the third-most productive offense in the 12-team Mission Conference. But the Falcons rank last in total defense and rushing defense.

By contrast, OCC ranks No. 2 in the Mission Conference in total defense and rushing defense, but is No. 11 in total offense.

The Pirates are led defensively by sophomore linebackers Dave Ronning and Aaron Miller, sophomore end Justin Williams and freshman cornerback Cory Nicol.

Ronning leads the team in tackles (33 solo stops and 36 assists). Williams leads the conference in sacks (8.5), and Nicol has a conference-leading six interceptions.

Offensively, OCC has been rejuvenated since freshman quarterback Kekoa Crowell was given the starting job at the start of division play. Crowell has thrown for 737 yards and six touchdowns, and scored the game-winning touchdown with 13 seconds left in the 10-7 win over Santa Ana on Oct. 29.

Sophomore Robert Aoki is the featured back in an improved OCC running game. Aoki has 603 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 136 carries.

Sophomore Shane Hoffman is the Pirates’ leading receiver with 23 catches for 376 yards and three touchdowns.

Cerritos is led offensively by sophomore quarterback Jeff Kline and sophomore running back Jeron Johnson.

Kline has thrown for 1,476 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has completed 116 of 186 passes (62.4%) with eight interceptions.

Johnson has 697 rushing yards and eight touchdowns on 128 attempts.

The Falcons’ leading receiver is Anthony Oliver (27 catches for 498 yards and three touchdowns).

Briggs, 85, will retire at the end of this season, his 57th as a coach. He has spent the last five seasons overseeing special teams, after 15 seasons tutoring the defensive line.

Briggs, a former two-way star lineman at the University of Colorado who played two seasons with the Detroit Lions, is a coaching legend in Bakersfield. He guided Bakersfield High to a 244-99-12 record in 27 years, including four undefeated CIF championship seasons. He was named national High School Coach of the Year in 1972.

The postgame affair will take place in the foyer of the gym.

ORANGE COAST STARTERS