It was win No. 300 in 595 games for OCC, which debuted in 1948.
DeLeone, who had the Pirates’ lone sack in a season-opening win over Santa Monica, shared two sacks against the Cougars, who finished with five rushing yards in 30 attempts.
Starting quarterback Torrey Harkness, who twice left the field due to blows sustained from OCC defenders, was sacked seven times. Cougars’ backup Arthur Fields went down four more times, as the Pirates created six fumbles.
Tackle Brandon Allen and middle linebacker Isaiah Reupena each had 1 1/2 sacks to lead the winners, for whom eight linemen, three linebackers and one cornerback were all members of the sack pack.
End Christian Bonsall, tackle Kevin Borton, outside linebacker Jimmy Keating and cornerback Joseph Lang all had solo sacks. Tackle Justin Niutapuai shared two, while middle linebacker Matt Henry, tackle Dane Kibodeaux, as well as reserve linemen Eric Grunbaum and Kevin Patrick each collected a half sack.
The dominance up front allowed the visitors to have just two yards of total offense in the first half, in which the Cougars did not complete any of their four passes. The only Cougars pass that was caught was the interception snatched by strong safety Benjamin Soza that helped set up the fourth touchdown of the first half.
The abandon with which the OCC defense played also led to some mistakes and penalties, a general sloppiness both DeLeone and Coach Mike Taylor lamented afterward.
But there was much to be pleased with on the OCC sideline, from where a satiated defense watched the offense score on four straight first-half possessions to put the game, well, in the pocket.
