Craig Zaltosky Memorial Scholarship

Craig “Zeke” Zaltosky was perhaps the greatest football player in the history of Orange Coast College. Zeke was a two-time Junior College All-American for coach Dick Tucker’s Orange Coast College Pirates during the 1970 and 1971 football seasons and went on to play for two years at Stanford University.

Zaltosky, a Huntington Beach High School graduate, intercepted a school-record 11 passes during his freshman season at OCC, and had six interceptions in a single game, another school record, against San Diego Mesa.

Zaltosky intercepted 17 passes during his two years at Coast — a school record — and was named to the JC All-American squad both as a freshman and sophomore. He was also named the South Coast Conference’s “Defensive Player of the Year” as a sophomore.

In addition to being an OCC free safety, Zaltosky was also a punt and kickoff return specialist. He returned 59 punts in his two seasons at Coast — a school record. He averaged 11.5 yards per return. Zaltosky ran a school-record four punts back for touchdowns during his Orange Coast career. He also returned a kickoff 97 yards for a score against Santa Ana College his sophomore season.

Craig died in May of 2004 in an automobile accident in Kona, Hawaii. The Craig Zaltosky Memorial Scholarship was established by his friends and teammates at Orange Coast and Stanford to honor his spirit and enthusiasm for life and football. Each year the award is given to an outstanding sophomore from the OCC Football Team to help him pursue his education goals.