Gauchos shipwreck Pirates to stay alive

The Saddleback Gauchos put together their best 60 minutes of football all season long on Saturday night in defeating the Orange Coast Pirates, 52-24.  Saddleback rolled up 599 yards of offense, including 335 yards on ground in dismantling Orange Coast to stay alive in the playoff hunt.

After a 1-4 start to the season, Saddleback is treating every game like a playoff game these days and for the second straight week looked like a team that didn't want to be left out of the playoff picture.  The Gauchos raced to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter and never looked back, dominating at times in improving to 3-4 overall and 2-1 in the National Division Southern Conference.

Saddleback got a tremendous effort all around, as the defensive line pummeled Orange Coast quarterbacks for eight sacks on the night.  Meanwhile, the offense looked like a well-oiled machine in putting up big numbers.

Anthony Cade was sensational at times, finishing with 237 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns.  Cade finished with 177 yards rushing on just 18 carries (9.8 ypc) while catching four balls for 60 yards.  James Marshall (right) was equally effective, rushing for 111 yards and two scores of his own as the Gauchos averaged 7.3 yards-per-carry on the night.

The defense was led by a tremendous push up front that finished the game with eight sacks on the night.  Jake Belnap and Marques White both finished with 2.5 sacks, constantly frustrating Orange Coast quarterback Cameron Biedgoly.  When they weren't pressuring the quarterback, they were taking away the Pirate running game, holding Orange Coast to only 35 yards rushing on 35 attempts. 

Saddleback improved to 3-4 overall, but more importantly chalked up another win in National Division Southern Conference place in improving to 2-1.  They will face Palomar College next Saturday at Escondido High School.  Game time is set for 6:00 pm.