JC Football Preview: OCC vs. Palomar

Orange Coast (1-4, 0-1) vs. Palomar (4-2, 1-1)

When/where: Saturday, 6 p.m. at Escondido High

Key Pirates: So. WR Mark Munson (37 catches, 602 yards, seven TDs); Fr. QB Kody Whitaker (804 yards, 10 TDs passing); So. OLB Paul Swanson (44 tackles); So. DE Re’Shon Howard (41 tackles).

Key Comets: So. QB Mitch Bertram (831 yards, nine TDs passing); So. RB Justin Harris (469 yards, four TDs rushing); So. WR M.J. Bailey (32 receptions, 484 yards, five TDs); So. DE Dylan Donahue (38 tackles, seven sacks).

Breakdown: The Pirates return to Southern Conference play coming off their first win of the season, a 49-10 romp over Los Angeles Pierce ... The 39-point margin was the most lopsided win for the Pirates since a 51-0 victory over Riverside in 1991, a span of 231 games ... Whitaker, in only his second start, threw five TD passes against Pierce and has 10 TD passes with just 54 completions ... Munson’s 120.4 receiving yards per game rank third in the state, second in the 37-team Southern California Football Assn. ... OCC is No. 13 in the SCFA with 398.2 yards per game ... Palomar leads the series, 17-11, but has won nine of the last 11, including a 38-16 verdict last season ... The Comets are ranked No. 9 in SoCal and No. 16 in the state. Their only losses were to Long Beach (ranked No. 1 in SoCal and No. 2 in the state) and Saddleback (No. 14 in SoCal and No. 25 in the state) ... Palomar beat Moorpark, 46-45, in two overtimes last week ... OCC lost at Moorpark, 39-31, on Sept. 20 ... Swanson leads OCC in tackles and scored the defense’s lone TD of 2014, when he recovered a fumble in the end zone against Pierce ... OCC is minus-one in turnover ratio ... The Comets rank second in SoCal with 30 sacks, three times the amount produced by the OCC defense.

— Barry Faulkner