Football Rolls Past ELAC, Mooshagian Ties All-Time Mark

The Pirate football team racked up 512 yards of total offense in rolling past East Los Angeles 39-13 Saturday night in Monterey Park. Thomas Duckett rushed for three touchdowns and Brock Domann accounted for 203 yards of total offense, 160 through the air and 43 on the ground. Meanwhile, the VC defense produced two safeties and limited the Huskies to 187 yards of total offense. With the triumph, head coach Steve Mooshagian tied former VC coach Dick James (1970-79, 90-92) as the winningest coach in program history with 66 career victories.

The Pirate defense got the team off to a good start. They forced a three-and-out on the opening possession. Then, after a VC's opening drive ended with a red zone interception, the defense forced a fumble that went out of the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 Ventura advantage.

Later in the first quarter, VC (7-2, 3-1) got untracked offensively with an 11-play, 86 yard drive. Dondre Baker had the big play with a 28-yard run, and Duckett capped the drive with a 3-yard scoring run. Kyle Continente's kick made it 9-0 for Ventura with 41 seconds remaining in the opening stanza.

The Huskies answered on the ensuing possession, driving 60 yards in six plays for a touchdown to make the score 9-7.

Late in the period, the defense set up a short field and the offense took advantage with a 4-play, 45-yard scoring drive. Jay Vanderjagt's 30-yard pass completion to Lavan Alston set up Duckett's 4-yard run to paydirt, and Continente converted the PAT for a 16-7 lead.

A penalty on the ensuing kickoff pinned ELAC back on its own 15-yard line, and on the next play, the defense forced another safety when the Huskie fumble was recovered in the end zone.  Ventura led 18-7 at halftime.

East LA attempted an onside kick to begin the second half with Gil' Scott Jackson recovering to set up another short field for Ventura. Vanderjagt's pass to Stevie Houston for 13 yards plus a Huskie facemask penalty set up Duckett's third touchdown of the night, an 11-yard scamper to the end zone, and Continente's kick put the Prates fully in control, 25-7, less than two minutes into the second half.

The Huskies responded with their own touchdown drive, but Vanderjagt had another answer for the Pirates. He hit Juan Gaytan on a 55-yard strike to the ELAC 1-yard line, then the quarterback finished the job with a run to the end zone for another VC score. The kick made it 32-13 with 7:34 remaining in the third period.

VC's defense held ELAC on the next drive forcing another punt, and the offense shut the door with another scoring drive. Domann returned at quarterback to lead a 14-play, 83-yard drive, hitting tight end Travis Koontz for a pair of receptions in the process. Tyrese Gholar finished the job with a 1-yard run, and Continente's kick set the final margin at 39-13.

Duckett had 10 rushes for 63 yards and three scores while Domann ran the ball nine times for 43 yards. Domann also completed 16 of 25 passes for 160 yards while Vanderjagt had seven completions in 11 attempts for 149 yards. Koontz led 11 Pirates with pass receptions with seven catches for 88 yards. Continente was perfect in PAT attempts, making five of five.

Baker led the defense with six tackles and a quarterback sack. Cail Jackson had five stops and Parker Neos recorded four tackles with a sack. Bradley Taylor also had four stops for the defense.

The Pirates will return home for their regular season finale on Saturday Nov. 10 against Long Beach. The games is set to begin at 6:00 pm at the VC Spotsplex as Ventura is looking to post its third straight 8-win season. Additionally, a Ventura victory could lead them to a berth in the Southern California Football Association playoffs for the third straight year and the fifth time in seven seasons.