No. 7-ranked Ventura College football (4-3, 2-1) played host to Pasadena City College and after trailing early, rattled off 45 straight points in route to a 62-31 victory. Quarterback Ty Gangi threw for 151 yards and two touchdowns with one rushing touchdown, Chris Beeson rushed for 88 yards and two touchdowns. Britto Tutt collected an interception return for a touchdown.
What looked to be another wild shootout game for VC when both teams combined for 24 points in the first nine minutes of play turned into a Pirate blowout victory. After trailing 14-10 in the first quarter, the Pirates put together a team effort to rattle off 45 straight points heading into halftime with a 55-10 advantage. A scoreless third quarter for both sides was stopped when Pasadena scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth, before a late Pirate touchdown and then an interception by the VC defense closed out the win.
VC collected 507 yards of total offense in the game, including 265 yards through the air and 242 yards on the ground. Ten different Pirates recorded a reception in the game while seven different players registered a carry. VC's defense collected five turnovers with two fumble recoveries and three interceptions.
CJ Pride opened the scoring in the first quarter on a 20-yard reception from quarterback Brandon Jones. Jake Lanski drilled home a 33-yard field goal to put the Pirates back on top 10-7 after a PCC touchdown. With VC trailing 14-10, Beeson broke an 8-yard touchdown run to put the Pirates up 17-14 with 3:59 to go in the first period and Ventura never relinquished the lead.
Lanski hit his second field goal of the game, this one from 30 yards out, to begin the second quarter. With Pasadena looking to claw back into the game, VC turned to their special teams and defense to widen the advantage. Cam Taylor scored back-to-back touchdowns when he recovered a botched snap by Pasadena's punter in the end zone, and caught a 14-yard pass from Gangi after the Pirates recovered a fumble on the kickoff. The Pirates buried Pasadena when Tutt picked off a deflected pass for a spectacular interception, tip-toeing down the sideline for a 26-yard pick-six and a 41-14 advantage.
The Pirates were not done for the half as Gangi found Ronald Washington for a 16-yard touchdown strike and Beeson barreled in for a 2-yard touchdown run to send the Pirates to a 55-14 half time lead.
The Pirate offense slowed the pace in the third quarter and were unable to extend the margin with several stalled drives. Ventura's defense stood tall, continuing to shutdown the PCC offensive attack. Neither team put points on the board in the third quarter.
With VC playing a loose defense in the final period, PCC was able to put up 21 points while time ran off the clock with each drive. Pasadena closed the deficit to 55-31 with just over seven minutes left in the game but Ventura answered when Gangi took the Pirate offense back down the field and finished the drive by scampering nine yards into the end zone. With PCC threatening inside the Pirates' 25-yard line and two minutes left on the clock, Sean Loshbaugh stepped in front of a PCC pass and collected an interception to seal the victory.
With the win the Pirates head into their bye week before they face off with College of the Canyons on Saturday Oct. 31 in Santa Clarita. The game is slated for a 1:00 pm kickoff.