Pirates Remain in First Place With Rout

After quickly falling behind 7-0, the Pirate football team poured it on in their 50-19 rout of Pasadena City College Saturday at PCC's Robinson Stadium.  Ventura (4-3, 3-0) amassed 264 yards in the air and 181 yards on the ground, scoring three touchdowns  each way as they remained first place in the SCFA Northern Conference standings.  

Two different quarterbacks threw touchdown passes to three different receivers, and three different running backs also scored in the run-away game.

Pasadena looked strong early, taking the opening kickoff and marching 75-yards down the field in nine plays to take a 7-0 lead.  

The Pirates countered, however, behind running back Aaron Stanton, who carried the ball six times for 47 yards on the next drive, including a 15-yard scamper to paydirt.  VC missed the extra point and trailed 7-6 with 6:33 remaining in the first quarter.

PCC's next drive stalled at the Pirate 40-yard line, and on fourth-and-eight, the Lancers elected to punt.  The kick, however, was shanked badly, not even reaching the line of scrimmage, and when the ball took a fortuitous bounce, Mike Cirino picked it up with open real estate ahead of him.  Cirino raced 53 yards to the end zone, and Jake Lanski's extra point put VC ahead for good, 13-7 late in the opening period.

Early in the second stanza, the Pirates backed the Lancers to a fourth-and-11 at the PCC 26.  Willie Cowan broke through to block the Pasadena punt, recovering the ball on the 12-yard line.  on the next play, Paul Harris raced around left end to the end zone for the score. Lanski's kick split the uprights and the rout was on.  VC led 20-7 with 13:00 remaining in the half.

Sensing the game getting away from them, Pasadena went for the big play on the next drive.  They completed a 37-yard pass play to midfield, then went for the home run.  Pirate defensive back Isiah Jackson came up with the big play instead, intercepting the bomb on the VC 3-yard line, ending the PCC threat.

Quarterback Marc Evans led the Pirates down the field after the turnover.  He completed three long passes and took a key roughing the passer penalty, leading the Pirates on a 97-yard scoring drive.  The drive culminated with Evans hitting Stanton on a 29-yard pass and run scoring strike with 7:54 on the clock. Lanski's kick made the score 27-7.

On the ensuing drive, the Ventura defense held the Lancers to a three-and-out, and on fourth down at the VC 39-yard line, PCC tried to run a fake punt to gain the first down.  Cowan made the key special teams play once again, stopping the ball carrier for a four yard loss, giving the ball to the Pirates on downs.

Three plays later Ventura turned the failed trickery into points as quarterback Jalen Brady hit Paul Harris on a 29-yard pass and run touchdown.  VC failed on the two-point attempt and led 34-7, still with 5:03 remaining before halftime.

With 1:16 left in the half, Ventura scored again on Lanski's 30-yard field goal, making it 37-7 at halftime.

After a scoreless third quarter, Pirate running back Chris Beeson seemingly putt  he game away with a 71-yard touchdown run off of right tackle.  Lanski's kick made it 43-7 under a minute into the final period.

Pasadena got a little offense going late, scoring a touchdown with 4:58 on the clock to make the score more respectable.  THe Pirates' Benito Moran blocked the extra point attempt, keeping the score at 43-13.

After a successful onside kick, the Lancers scored again 24-seconds later to close the gap to 43-19.

Ventura reestablished control on the next possession, as Cowan turned his first pass reception of the season into points.  He took a short pass play and took it to paydirt for a 45-yard touchdown.  Lanski added the point after to settle the final score at 50-19.

Both Pirate quarterbacks fared well in the game.  Evans completed 11 of 16 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown while Brady was 4-8 for 97 yards and two scores.  Stanton led a balanced rushing attack with 78 yards on 17 carries and tight end Kurt McCormack had four catches for a strong 44 yards.  Chris Marshall posted three receptions for 61 yards to led VC.  Defensively, Kyler O'Halloran had 10 tackles, a forced fumble and a pass break-up on the night while Matt Singleton had eight stops.

The game took a serious turn shortly before halftime, as VC's Elijah Henderson sustained a serious leg injury.  After a 20-minute delay, he was transported to a local hospital.

"The care that was here was unbelievable," head coach Steve Mooshagian told the Ventura County Star after the game. "They were able to set it and get him (comfortable). So I think that's really going to help his rehab.

"That's always hard to see, but he'll be back."

Ventura sits at 3-0 atop the Northern Conference as its only unbeaten team heading into the bye week. Cerritos (2-1), Hancock (1-1), Canyons (1-1), Bakersfield (1-2), Pasaadena (1-2) and Moorpark (0-2) all trail the Pirates midway through the conference docket.

VC will have a week of before returning home On Saturday Nov. 1 to host College of the Canyons.  Game time is set for 6:00 pm at the VC Sportsplex.

See story from the Ventura County Star