Costa Mesa, Calif. – The Golden West (4-4, 3-0) football team wins the battle for the bell for the sixth time in the last seven seasons over rival Orange Coast College (3-5, 1-2) 39 to 18.
The Rustlers came out of the locker room focused in the opening quarter as they took a fast 20-2 lead. It was the fast and furious start that would lead Golden West to score three touchdowns in a span of 3:37. The defense was key to the quick scores as two of the five Orange Coast turnovers led to the 20-2 surge. OCC would score their two points on a blocked extra point attempt taken all the way back 98 yards.
The second quarter things would slow down as the Rustlers would only find the end zone once when quarterback Adam Vance connected with Sheldon White for a 6 yard passing TD. After an OCC touchdown three minutes later Golden West would go into halftime with a 26-9 lead.
Freshman running back Desmond Bowden had a great night running the ball for the Rustlers as he racked up 112 yards on 20 attempts and a score. Zimari Manning continues his hot surge with seven catches for 80 yards and two touchdowns. The offensive key was QB Vance throwing an impressive 22-26 for 251 yards and five touchdowns all while never turning the ball over.
The second half would see two more passing touchdowns starting with a Vance to Manning TD for 12 yards in the third quarter and Vance connecting with Samuel Flowers for a 52 yard strike in the beginning of the fourth quarter. OCC would block another extra point and bring it back for two points and hit for a late fourth quarter score to lose to the Rustlers 39-18.
Golden West has won three straight division games after starting the season 1-4. Next they will host division opponent Grossmont College on Saturday November 5th at 7pm. With a second half surge the Rustlers look to make a run at the playoffs if it can win the division outright.
