Pirates Break 83-Year-Old Record in Runaway Victory

In the height of the Great Depression, Roosevelt's New Deal was less than a year old when the Ventura College football team scored 68 points against Santa Barbara State College's freshmen team. That record for points scored in a game stood for 83 years until Saturday, when VC (5-2, 2-0) lit up the scoreboard for 76 points in their blowout win over visiting Santa Monica College at the Sportsplex. Nine different Pirates scored a combined 11 touchdowns in the 76-21 victory that put Ventura alone atop the Northern Conference standings. 

The game was over almost before it began.  VC took the opening kickoff, and Kendrick Bradley returned it 51 yards to the Corsairs' 31-yard line set up the first scoring drive.  Four plays later, quarterback Jake Luton hit Brian Burt for a 9-yard touchdown pass 1:23 into the contest.  Collin Root's kick gave the Pirates a 7-0 lead.

After a brief Santa Monica drive, the Corsairs were forced to punt.  Vosean Crumbie took the kick at the Ventura 25-yard line and raced back 75 yards to the house to give VC its second score just 3:35 into the game.  

SMC tried to give an answer to their early deficit, but after advancing to the VC 8-yard line, they threw an interception to Pirate defensive back Alvin Pacheco in the end zone, ending the threat.

The teams exchanged punts, and when the Corsairs kicked, they attempted to angle the punt away from Crumbie.  The ball bounced twice near the Pirate sideline before Crumbie picked it up and ran back 70 yards for his second touchdown of the first quarter.  Root converted the PAT to make the score 21-0.

On VC's next possession, their drive stalled on the Corsair's 5-yard line.  Setting up for a field goal, holder Elijah Alexander sprinted out to the left and hit Bradley with a pass on the right side for the fourth Ventura trip to the end zone of the opening period.  Root's kick made it 28-0 as the period came to an end.

Santa Monica finally broke through with a touchdown with 6:22 remaining until halftime, but the Pirates answered with two more scores before intermission.  Luton hit Kendric Mallory on a 55-yard bomb two plays into the ensuing drive, and Cam Taylor caught a 24-yard pass from Luton with 56 seconds on the clock.  VC led 42-7 at halftime.

In the third quarter, the Pirates took advantage of a poor Santa Monica punt to score on a 4-play, 29-yard drive.  Noah Siegrist hit paydirt with a 1-yard run to provide the punctuation.

Later in the quarter, backup quarterback Conor Regan hit Matt Younkers on a 14 yard scoring strike, and Isaiah Brown scampered to the end zone on a 24-yard run.  Ventura led 63-7 entering the final period.

In the fourth, Regan engineered drives of 65 and 62 yards, respectively, as he ran for touchdowns to end each drive.  Root's 11th and final extra point attempt of the night was blocked and returned to the end zone by SMC, but a penalty on the return nullified the two points for the Corsairs and set the final margin at 76-21.

VC quarterback Luton completed 20 of 26 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns while only playing one series into the second half.  Regan was 4-7 for 74 yards and a score.

Brown led the Pirates on the ground with nine carries for 92 yards and a touchdown as VC totaled 277 yards rushing with four trips to paydirt.

13 Pirates caught a pass on the night led by Jonte Broski with four catches for 64 yards.  Five different receivers caught passes for touchdowns.

Crumbie had a stellar night in the return game with 177 yards on three punts returns and one kickoff return with the two first quarter touchdowns.

Defensively, VC was led by Richard Leveille with eight tackles and a fumble recovery. Darrian McIntyre and Latrae Lofton each had seven stops in the game. 

With the victory, the Pirates now sit alone atop the Northern Conference with a 2-0 conference mark.  They will host Moorpark College in the 49th annual Citrus Cup game between the two intra-county rivals.  Kickoff against the Raiders is set for 6:00 pm at the VC Sportsplex, and the game can be seen live on the VC Sports Network.