“We are excited about being at home,” said Glendale college first-year Coach John Rome, whose team registered a 20-7 nonconference road victory against Riverside City College on Sept. 20. “We have traditionally played well at home since we got our new field (in 2005).
“It’s nice to be able to play at home. You are in a comfortable surrounding, and it’s a place where you also practice every single day.”
Still, the Vaqueros can’t rest on their laurels against a Pirates squad that’s fresh off a 16-13 road win against Golden West College. Orange Coast rolled up 365 yards of total offense against Golden West, including 227 yards passing from quarterback Taylor Hughes.
According to the latest California Community College Football Coaches Assn. poll, Orange Coast and Glendale college are ranked ninth and 14th, respectively, in Southern California.
The Vaqueros are looking to build off their performance against Riverside City College, in which they limited the Tigers to 330 yards of total offense and seven points. Riverside City College entered the game averaging 51.5 points per game.
“We expect a well-fought game [against Orange Coast],” Rome said. “With the young group of players that we have, I think their confidence level is a little higher now.
“We tackled better. Offensively, we need to get our passing game off the ground. We’ve been relying on the run a bit too much.”
Glendale college freshmen running backs Jorge Chaidez and Willie Youngblood combined for 207 yards rushing and one touchdown last week. Linebacker Kalii Robinson recovered a fumble and collected a team-high 10 tackles.
“[Orange Coast] is a physical running team that’s got a little more formational offense than Riverside,” said Rome, whose squad will begin action in the new Northern Conference National Division on Oct. 4 against Ventura College after years of participating in the Western State Conference’s Southern Division. “They run a layer package of things offensively.”
The Vaqueros have accumulated 1,279 yards of total offense this season, while allowing 901.
It will mark the first time the teams have met since Glendale college picked up a 24-17 victory on Sept 4, 2004 at Newport Harbor High.
CHARLES RICH covers sports. He can be reached at (818) 637-3228 or charles.rich@latimes.com.
