Traveling to Santa Clarita on Halloween afternoon, the Ventura College football team overcame some scary times to claim a 54-48 over College of the Canyons. VC racked up 593 yards in total offense with Quarterback Ty Gangi throwing for 438 yards and four touchdowns. Chris Beeson rushed for 96 yards and two scores with Cam Taylor hauling in 10 catches for 143 yards and two touchdowns.
In a season which has seen the Ventura offense repeatedly put up prolific numbers, the Pirates did not disappoint on Halloween. Facing off with previously undefeated Northern Conference opponent COC, a win was vital for the Pirates chances at repeating as conference champions and advancing to the state playoffs. Gangi directed the Pirate attack by hitting 11 different receivers in the game including eight different receivers for multiple catches. Gangi and Beeson did the major work on the ground combining to run for a total of 147 yards in the game.
Ventura (5-3, 3-1) came out and put up the first points of the game on their initial drive when Gangi found Joey Word on a 35-yard strike just 3:28 into the game. After the Cougars responded with a touchdown, the Pirates put up the next two scores. First, Gangi hit Cam Taylor from four yards out to make the score 14-7. On their next possession Gangi did the work himself when he scored from one yard out to put VC ahead 21-7.
COC responded with a score to cut into the Pirate advantage to 21-14. Ventura and Canyons traded field goals for the remainder of the half. Jake Lanski hit from 33 yards out, then the Cougars kicker hit on back to back opportunities to put the score at 24-20 with just :38 seconds on the clock. VC was not finished, however, as they came out firing and drove 47 yards on five plays in just :26 seconds to set up Lanski for a 19-yard field goal, putting the Pirates up 27-20 at halftime.
The offense continued in the second half as Canyons come out and tied the game on their first drive of the third quarter. VC's offense went back to work going 65 yards in six plays, capped by Beeson's 8-yard touchdown run. Ventura's defense then produced a stop and got the Pirates offense the football back. Gangi utilized the opportunity to hit Riley Smith from three yards out at the end of a seven-play, 60-yard drive to stretch the margin to 41-27, closing out the scoring in the third quarter.
With a two-score advantage and 15 minutes to play, Ventura appeared in great shape to pick up their fifth win of the season. The Cougars, however, were not ready to give in and capitalized on opportunities afforded them by the Pirates. Canyons Rattled off 21 points in just under 10 minutes of game time, taking 48-41 lead with 10:09 remaining in the contest.
Gangi and the Pirates steadied the ship going 75 yards in just five plays, capped with Gangi and Taylor hooking up on a 1-yard touchdown pass. After stopping the Cougar offense on the next possession, Ventura took over with 4:25 on the clock and looked to put themselves in position to win. Going 75 yards in seven plays, Ventura found the end zone for the seventh time in the game as Beeson broke free on a 24-yard run. The Pirates led 54-48 with 1:19 remaining.
The Ventura defense held strong for the remaining time and forced a turnover on downs to ice the game.
Britto Tutt collected nine tackles in the game with seven solo tackles to lead the Pirate defense. Grant Bouma and Mark Zavala each added eight tackles. Zavala was credited with 1.5 sacks and Kaylan Striggles also assisted with a quarterback sack. Zavala recorded 4.5 tackles for a loss in the game for a Pirate defense which, as a team, picked up eight total tackles for a loss.
The VC's win, coupled with the Cerritos loss at Moorpark put the Pirates in a virtual tie with Canyons and Cerritos atop the Northern Conference with each team holding one conference loss.
Ventura will travel to Santa Maria on Saturday Nov. 7 to take on Allan Hancock in a 1:00 pm game. Then they will wrap up the regular season on Saturday Nov. 14 with a home game against Bakersfield at 6:00 pm.