Pirates look to regroup on the road against Moorpark

COSTA MESA -- At least looking at the stats from Saturday's 29-22 loss to Santa Monica, Orange Coast College football head coach Bubba Gonzalez didn't need to strain too hard to find where the trouble lied on the stat sheet.

With 172 net rushing yards (excluding sacks and a botched punt snap for a safety), 245 passing yards, more total offense that opposition and only one turnover, the box score didn't look too bad ... until you get to the section on penalties ... 18 infractions for 165 yards.

"There's nobody to blame for that except for ourselves," Gonzalez said. "We led in most of the categories and played well enough to win, except for the penalties. It doesn't matter how good you are. This week We've been focusing on trying to teach them to understand to play with control and to not have penalties that not only pushed our drives back, but they also extended their drives, which led to points for them. We need to bring a more fundamentally sound approach to this week's game and so far, I've liked what I've seen from the guys in practice."

One "big" bright spot in Week 4 was the play of 5'6 running back J.P. Segura-Queijeiro, who bobbed and weaved his way through the Santa Monica defense to the tune of 109 rushing yards and a touchdown on just 12 carries. "We had J.P. in 2019 and I really didn't see the athletic talent that year, but I was reminded that he was injured on the first play of the 2019 season," Gonzalez said. "He suffered a broken leg and usually, when people come back from a broken leg, they sometimes down come back as fast or with the same ability to cut on the field as before. J.P. has dedicated himself to getting bigger and stronger and he's become a really talented running back for us. His ability to see the opening and attack it and to use his smaller size to his advantage on the field. He's solidified himself as a top running back, not only in our division, but in the entire league."

Another positive to pull from Saturday's game came from quarterback J.D. Rafkin, who came off of the bench and threw for 218 yards and a touchdown on 21-of-35 passing. "J.D. is a playmaker for us out there," Gonzalez said. "He did a great job of extending plays for us and when things broke down, he was able to make something positive of those situations. He did his prep work during the week and came into the game off the bench prepared and ready to go. It wasn't a perfect performance, but he was able to come in and give our offense a spark and we were able to rally around him."

Receiving wise, Aaron Fletcher had a big game with seven catches for 101 yards and a touchdown. In fact, six different Pirates -- Fletcher, Boogie Lilley-Sneed, William Sullivan, Jacob Munro, Edwin LaCrosse and Jamaal Fisher -- had multiple receptions as the passing game picked up momentum as the game wore on.

"It was great to see guys contribute out there," Gonzalez said. "Someone like Jacob (Munro), who has been battling injuries at the start of the season ... he came in, shook off the rust and made some nice plays for us."

On the defensive side of things, Gonzalez saw room to improve, but also liked the fight of the group. "Our defensive line did a good job of plugging up holes and taking guys on, which allowed our linebackers to make a bunch of tackles for us," Gonzalez said. "I think that group is better than allowing 29 points and if we can do a better overall job, that will take some of the pressure off of the offense, which will help a bit."

As for Saturday's opponent -- the Moorpark College Raiders -- they enter Saturday's game at 1-2 following a 55-21 home loss to Grossmont College. 

Raider quarterback Trae Johnson has thrown for 676 yards and four touchdowns with three interceptions for the Raiders, while the ground game has been led by Joe Llanos with 132 yards on 25 carries. Keep an eye on wide receiver Jacob Carbajal, who has nine receptions for a team-best 258 yards and three touchdowns.

"Moorpark has some good players and they're well coached," Gonzalez said. "They've got a big defensive line, so our O-line will need to keep them in check for us to get our offense going. For us, our biggest thing we learned from last week is we need to eliminate making mistakes on our own end. We need to take care of the little things out there and if we do that, the big things will be taken care of as well."