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# Off and running
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/off-and-running/
- Published: 2008-09-06T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T20:55:56.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Sports, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Corsairs hope to control the ground game in opener*

*By DANIEL ARCHULETA Managing Editor*

COSTA MESA Santa Monica College’s head coach Robert Taylor is approaching the season opener against Orange Coast College in pretty simple terms.

“Our game plan is to win the football game and be better than Orange Coast,” Taylor said.

To accomplish this straight-forward goal, Taylor hopes to control the line of scrimmage against a Pirate team that effectively moves the ball on the ground.

“OCC is a balanced football team,” Taylor said, “but, they’ll run it more than they throw it. They are not conservative, but we’ll look for the run first.”

With a first-year quarterback, Luqman Nasouf, lining up behind center, he intends to counter OCC’s offense with his stable of capable running backs. Taylor said that his duo of talented runners, Deron Bartholomew and Cedric Hayes, looked strong during a practice scrimmage against Long Beach City College late last month and expects them to help take some of the pressure off of his young passer.

“We feel our running game is pretty good,” Taylor said. “We have two of the best running backs in the area. We’re going to expose people to our running game.”

Pirates head coach Mike Taylor is well aware of SMC’s offensive capabilities and has tailored his defensive game plan to handle the onslaught. His team, which finished last season 5-5, plays a 4-3 base defense with four down lineman that is designed to put pressure on the pocket and snuff out the run.

“We’re going to have to contain their skill people,” Mike Taylor said. “Their receivers and running backs look good on film.”

On the offensive side of the ball, OCC will man the QB position with a platoon that features two contrasting styles. Freshman Sean Rielly is a prototypical pocket passer who depends on a rocket arm to keep the chains moving. Sophomore Taylor Hughes is more of a scrambler that can gain tough yards on the ground.

“We’ll have to move Hughes around in the pocket,” Mike Taylor said. “Santa Monica, I’m sure, will have a pretty good push \[at the line of scrimmage\].”

OCC’s coach isn’t sure exactly how he’ll use his pair of signal callers on the eve of the season opener. He’ll start the game with Rielly, but expects to use the two interchangeably.

“I might have them play a quarter each,” he said. “But, I won’t hesitate to go with the hot hand.”

Line play will be a major factor for the Pirates, a team that expects to play three or four freshman on the offensive line. Having lost a couple of last year’s lineman to academic ineligibility, he’s going to be careful and play the game close to the vest.

“Defensively, (SMC) runs around quite a bit,”he said.“We’re going to have to eliminate big plays. There will be jitters for both teams.

“We just have to stick to the game plan and not get into third and long very often.”

Considering that this is the season opener, both coaches are careful not to put to much on the outcome of this non-conference game.

“I think a win alone would be a statement,” Robert Taylor, whose team finished last season with a 2-8 record, said. “A win would be the best statement we can make at this point \[of the season\].”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 6, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/090608.pdf?ref=smdp.com)