Rustlers Lost the Bell

Nov 16, 2007

The Golden West College Rustlers may have opened the night as owners and ringers of the "Victory Bell", but it was the Orange Coast College Pirates who claimed possession of the prized trophy by the end of the night, following a hard-fought 30-28 win on Friday night at LeBard Stadium.

It was a win that wasn't secured until the game's final minute when Chris Holmesly helped reduce the Pirates' blood pressure by falling on a loose ball from a GWC onside kick attempt, giving OCC the ball, the game and the "Victory Bell" following a one-year stint in Rustler Country.

Things looked good for the Pirates (5-5, 3-2 in Mission Conference American Division) as they held a 30-19 lead with less than five minutes remaining.

A missed GWC field goal from 27-yards out with 4:22 remaining seemed to seal things up for the visiting Pirates, but the Rustlers (2-8, 0-5) had other ideas.

An OCC punt nearly turned disastrous as a low snap rolled past the Pirates' punter and into the end zone. However, Pirate special teams player Travers Morgan quickly pounced on the ball for a safety, keeping the Pirates ahead by two scores, 30-21.

GWC got the ball back following the OCC kickoff and with 2:12 left in the game, marched down the field and scored on a 24-yard touchdown from quarterback Les Obie to Kellen Graham with 57 seconds left to make it 30-28, Coast, following the successful PAT.

With all of LeBard Stadium waiting for an onside kick, Rustler kicker Seth Guardado, hit a perfect one-hopper to the OCC front line and the short-hop bounded in the air, sending both sides into a frenzy. But when the smoke cleared, it was Holmesly who came up with the ball and with no timeouts left for GWC, the Pirates kneeled on the ball twice the run the remaining seconds off the clock.

The Rustlers, who found offensive success the past few weeks with some less-than-routine plays, pulled out several tricks from the playbook and racked up 447 yards of total offense against the conference's stingiest defense.

But it wasn't enough as the arm of quarterback Chris Debowski (10-of-18, 132 yards, one touchdown, pictured left) was equaled by the legs of Chris Debowski (16 carries, 102 yards, one touchdown, pictured right) to highlight OCC's offense.

Both teams traded field goals in the first quarter before the Pirates grabbed hold of the lead for good in the second quarter.

OCC used an eight-play, 69-yard drive that ended with a Debowski plunge into the end zone from a yard out, giving the Pirates a 10-3 advantage.

Following a Rustlers' punt, Cody Williams capped off an 11-play, 54-yard drive with a 32-yard field goal to make it 13-3.

GWC again was forced to punt deep in its own zone, giving the Pirates the ball inside Rustler territory. OCC needed just three plays to march 41 yards as Kevin Ah-Hi slammed into the end zone on a 2-yard run to make it 20-3. Highlighting the drive was a 33-yard scamper by Debowski on the previous play.

In a game fuelled with emotion, a costly personal foul penalty by OCC enabled GWC to get within scoring territory and the Rustlers cashed in with a 39-yard field goal from Seth Guardado just before halftime.

An Obie fumble on the Rustlers' 32-yard line was recovered by Nathan Barnett, giving the Pirates more great field position. On the next play, Debowski hooked up with Cameron Hall (pictured left) for a 32-yard touchdown strike and after a Williams PAT, OCC had its lead up to 27-6.

But the Rustlers wouldn't go away. They took their next possession down the field and seven plays later, Obie connected with Dan Delahoussaye for a 23-yard touchdown to make it 27-13. Obie finished with 286 yards passing on 23-of-37 passing, with most of the production going to Delahoussaye (eight catches, 164 yards, two TDs).

Late in the third quarter, GWC struck again as Obie hit Delahoussaye for a 75-yard TD strike, cutting the deficit to 27-19 following a missed PAT by Guardado.

Tonight was the 40th meeting between the two schools. GWC leads the overall series 20-18-2.

GWC vs OCC

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Golden West comes up Short Against the Hornets 23-15
Oct 13, 2007

The Rustler football team (2-4) failed to put enough points on the board, despite accumulating over 300 offensive yards. The Golden West offense struggled as they rushed for 84 yards.  

With 6:51 remaining in the second quarter, Fullerton running back Brandon Edwards rushed for 18 yards to score the first touchdown of the game and put the Hornets up 7-0.  Once regaining possession of the ball, Fullerton defensive back Lee Aguirre intercepted quarterback Les Obie’s pass.  Fullerton would then go on to score as quarterback Kyle Olson connected with Rob Archuleta to put the Hornets up 14-0.    

With 4:03 left in the second, a completed pass to Paul Faroule for 26 yards and to Dan Delahoussaye for ten yards put the Rustler offense in the red zone.  Quarterback Les Obie would then rush for 14 yards to score the first touchdown of the game for Golden West.  Seth Guardado converted the point after, closing the gap 14-7 before halftime.    

At the 10:45 mark in the third quarter, the Hornets defense sacked quarterback Les Obie for a loss of four yards and a safety, making the score 16-7.  The Hornets would continue to dominate, scoring another touchdown with 8:40 as Kyle Olson connected with Brandon Edwards for a fourteen yard pass. The point after was converted, widening the gap 23-7.  The Rustlers failed to score at all in the third quarter.    

In the fourth quarter, the Rustler offense finally put together a successful drive.  Obie Les would connect with wide receiver Paul Faroule for 9 yards and Anthony Carlisle for 10 yards for two first downs.  Shane Weber caught a pass from Obie Les for 15 yards and Anthony Carlisle would catch another one for 11 yards.  Anthony Carlisle rushed one yard to score the Rustler’s second and final touchdown of the game.  Obie Les and Dan Delahoussaye connected for a two point conversion, making the final score 23-15.  

Defensively for the Rustlers, linebacker Paea Vaimoui led the way with 5 solo and 5 assisted tackles.  Also, Patrick Tafua had 7 solo tackles and 1 assisted and Kendri Starkes had 6 solo and 2 assisted.  

Written By: Heather Habekost

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Dons take advantage of the Rustlers
Sept 29, 2007

Costa Mesa – Despite accumulating a total of 330 offensive yards, the Golden West Rustlers (2-3) were unable to put enough points on the board to defeat Orange Empire Conference opponent Santa Ana College on Saturday night.   

A completed pass to wide receiver Stacejuan Kelly and strong running from Dan Delahoussaye and Les Obie put the Rustler offense in the red zone. With 3:42 left in the first quarter, Shane Webber connected with Paea Vaimoui for a 10 yard touchdown pass.  Rustler kicker Seth Guardado converted the point after, giving Golden West a 7-0 advantage.   
However, the Dons came firing back, scoring on a 75 yard pass with 1:12 left in the first quarter.  Santa Ana quarterback Mark Iddins hit Chad Sprecher to tie up the game 7-7.  The Dons would continue to build on this momentum into the second quarter, scoring on their first drive which took 9 plays and 65 yards.  Mark Iddins found R.J. Koch for an 18-yard pass to take the lead 14-7.   

With only 25 seconds left in the first half, Dons quarterback Mark Iddins completed a 41-yard pass to Rishard Matthews to set kicker Cody Hilgenberg up with field goal to give the Dons a 17-7 advantage at halftime.   

The Rustlers came out strong the second half, driving the ball into the end zone in just 8 plays covering 72 yards.  Still in the 3rd quarter Anthony Carlisle broke lose to rush for a 23 yard gain and Dan Delahoussaye scored on a 32-yard pass from Les Obie, closing the gap 17-14.   
Golden West once again drove the ball downfield to the 20-yard line to end the third, but was unable to capitalize and score.  Kicker Seth Guardado was wide left and missed a costly 37-yard field goal at the beginning of the fourth quarter.   

The Santa Ana Dons would go on to dominate, shutting down the Rustler offense and scoring with 1:24 left on the clock as running back Kelly Bryson ran for three yards into the end zone.  
Defensively for the Rustlers, Joe Garvey led the way with 8 solo tackles and 1 assisted tackle. Aposeto Iupati, Paea Vaimoui, and Joshua Madrid also contributed with 4 solo tackles apiece.   
Offensively, Dan Delahoussaye shined, receiving a total of 152 yards, rushing for 27 yards, and scoring one of the Rustlers two touchdowns.  Quarterback Les Obie also contributed, completing 18 of his 25 passes and throwing for a total of 183 yards and rushing for 46 yards. Anthony Carlisle, in his first game returning from an injury, rushed for a total of 97 yards.   

The Golden West Rustlers will next take on Fullerton College on October 13, at 5:00 PM at LeBard Stadium.

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Rustlers struggled to put points on the board
Sept 22, 2007

Costa Mesa – Pasadena City College football team accomplished something it hadn't done since 2000--shut out an opponent. The region's No. 6-ranked Lancers blanked Golden West, 34-0, to drop the Rustlers to 2-2 on the season.

It didn’t’ take Pasadena long to score what proved to be the only touchdown it would need. On the first play of scrimmage, quarterback David Pittman threw a screen pass to wide receiver David Reed, who galloped 59 yards for a touchdown just 19 seconds into the game.

The Lancers leading 6-0, Pittman engineered a 9-play, 80-yard scoring drive on the team's very next series. The 5-foot-11 sophomore had runs of 17, 9 and 11 yards, and finished things off with a 9-yard TD pass to receiver Owen Dixon. Pittman tossed to Reed for the 2-point conversion and a 14-0 lead with just 5:05 elapsed on the first-quarter game clock.

PCC's defense limited Golden West to 177 total offensive yards and 10 first downs, while sacking a pair of Rustlers' quarterbacks 6 times.

Golden West (2-2), linebacker Sean Baker made a game-high 12 tackles. The Rustlers' best chance to score came on the second play of the second quarter. Kicker/receiver Dan Delahoussaye just missed wide left on a 41-yard field goal attempt.

Rustlers look to redeem themselves on Saturday the 29th as they take on the Dons of Santa Ana at 5:00pm (LeBard Stadium).

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Rustlers defeat Cerritos in three-overtimes
Sept 15, 2007

Cerritos – It only took the Rustlers three games in the 2007 season to tie the number of victories they had all last season.  Golden West (2-1) won a 22-20 Mission Conference crossover game to Cerritos Falcons (2-1) in three overtimes.

After neither team was able to score in the first two overtimes (Golden West missed two field goals and Cerritos missed one), the Falcons were able to reach the end zone when sophomore quarterback AJ Toscano connected with sophomore wide receiver Ryan Pettys on a third-and-11 play. But, with the rule stating that teams must go for two starting the third overtime, Cerritos lined up for the two-point conversion. After Toscano was unable to find an open receiver, he scrambled and appeared to score. But, the Falcons were called for holding and the ball was moved back to the 13-yard line. Toscano then threw an incomplete pass.

For the Rustlers, they took over the ball and picked up a first down after two plays. After running back Anthony Carlisle ( Ashtabula , OH ) was dropped for a one-yard loss, quarterback Les Obie (Mater Dei HS) found a wide open Dan Delahoussaye (Westminster HS) in the end zone for a touchdown. Obie then threw a swing pass to Noel Clarke (John Glenn HS) to convert the two-point conversion and win the game.

Both teams struggled to move the ball downfield, while the Falcons had trouble holding onto the ball in the first half. Cerritos lost three fumbles in the first half, including a crucial one deep in Golden West territory. Late in the second quarter, Cerritos drove down to the Rustler three-yard line after Toscano connected on three first down passes. However, freshman fullback Junior Tivao had the ball stripped on first and goal at the three-yard line, with 49 seconds left, with Wayne Glisson (Fountain Valley HS) recovering the ball for Golden West.

The Rustlers opened the scoring on the night after Sean Baker(Mayfair HS) recovered a blocked Cerritos punt in the end zone with 12:59 left in the first half. However, the Falcons tied the game on their opening drive of the second half, as Toscano hit freshman Ronnie Goforth from six yards out on third-and-goal. The Falcons took the lead when sophomore linebacker Michael Terry picked off Obie at the Rustler 41-yard line and went in the end zone untouched.

On their next drive, Golden West went the length of the field, with Carlisle carrying the ball on eight of the team’s 12 plays and scored from 10 yards out with 6:33 remaining. Regulation ended with Falcon sophomore cornerback BG Walters leaping high over Chris Hernandez (Garden Grove HS) in the end zone for an interception to thwart a last-second scoring opportunity.

The Rustlers out-gained Cerritos on the night, 282-200, with Carlisle accounting for 125 yards on the ground. Neither quarterbacks had a good night, with Toscano completing 15-of-31 passes for 137 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Obie finished throwing for 121 yards on 18-of-26 passing with two interceptions.