Community College Football Preview: Orange Coast vs. Chaffey

Orange Coast vs. Chaffey

When/where: Saturday, 6 p.m. at OCC

Key Pirates: Fr. QB Alec Dombkowski; Fr. RB Daniel Rodriguez; So. WR Mark Munson; So. LT Zach Bateman.

Key Panthers: So. QB Dimitri Morales (2,026 yards, 20 TDs passing; 842 yards, nine TDs rushing in 2013); So. DB Kendall Chambliss; So. DL Dillon Hedgpeth; So. OL Cameren Turner.

Breakdown: The Pirates open the Kevin Emerson era as the first-year head coach replaces Mike Taylor after 15 seasons ... OCC is coming off a 3-7 season in which it lost the final two games ... Chaffey, ranked No. 11 in Southern California and No. 23 in the state in preseason polls, was 9-2 in 2013, including 7-0 in the American Division Mountain Conference ... The Panthers, under then-first-year coach Rob Hadaway, lost their opener last season to Santa Monica, won nine straight, then fell to Los Angeles Pierce, 21-13, in the American Division Championship Bowl ... Chaffey was 2-8 in 2012, before Hadaway arrived ... Morales led the Panthers in passing and rushing last season and was named Mountain Conference MVP ... Hedpeth, an all-conference pick, had a team-best 5.5 sacks last fall ... OCC has just 15 returners, including offensive line starters Bateman and Reuben Brien-Arnold, as well as starting outside linebacker Paul Swanson ... Dombkowski completed 17 of 18 pass attempts in the preseason intrasquad scrimmage ... OCC allowed 442 points last season, most in school history, and ranked last in SoCal in team defense (511 yards per game) ... Chaffey averaged nearly 474 yards per game (nearly 284 rushing) and 34.3 points in 2013, when it allowed 16.1 points per game ... OCC is 0-3-1 in its last four season openers ... Emerson’s San Bernardino Valley team lost to Chaffey, 23-12, last season.

— Barry Faulkner