Quarterback Jake Luton had a record-setting debut for the Ventura College football team Saturday night at the Sportsplex. The transfer sophomore passed for 487 yards and six touchdowns to help the Pirates overcome four turnovers in posting a 47-40 season-opening victory over Santa Barbara City College in the 50th installment of the "Big Game". Wide receiver Cam Taylor hauled in seven passes for 159 receiving yards with a touchdown, and running back Isaiah Brown rushed for 74 yards in the VC win. Defensive back Ereck Wilson Jr. had 11 tackles to lead the defense while cornerback Vosean Crumbie had two interceptions and four pass break-ups.
Luton, who transferred to VC from the University of Idaho, did not disappoint in his inagural action in the orange and black. He completed 36 of 55 passes with a six touchdowns and an interception. His 487 passing yards breaks Ty Gangi's record of 452 yards from a year ago and the six touchdowns and 36 completions tie records set by Chad Metlak in 2001 and Brad Odeman in 2013, respectively.
It was the Pirates' sixth straight victory in the "Big Game" series against Santa Barbara, and the 14th win in the past 15 games. The series resumed after a four-year hiatus following the split of Southern California football teams into more-competitive divisions before the 2012 season. Ventura leads the all-time series against the Vaqueros 29-20-1.
The season got off to a strong start for the Pirates (1-0). The defense held SBCC on a three-and-out on the first series, then took possession and matriculated down the field for a touchdown. Luton completed the 10-play 59-yard drive with a 6-yard pass to Steve Houston for the score. The extra point was blocked, sailing short and wide and the score remained 6-0 with 11:04 on the clock.
Santa Barbara responded with a 12-play, 28-yard drive culminating in a 42-yard field goal and the score was 6-3 at the end of the first quarter.
On the second play of the second stanza, VC's Mark Zavala blocked another SBCC field goal attempt, with the Pirates taking possession on their own 20-yard line. Four plays later, Luton hit Cam Taylor for a 68-yard pass and run to paydirt. Cooper Garcia's PAT gave the Pirates a 13-3 advantage.
Midway through the period, Santa Barbara took advantage of two Ventura fumbles to score two touchdowns inside the span of 30 seconds. They cashed in a 66-yard fumble recovery to the Pirate 4-yard line in one play, then scored on a 60-yard pass play after the next VC miscue. SBCC held a 17-13 advantage with 6:47 remaining in the first half.
The Pirates seemed to get untracked after that, however, scoring three touchdowns in the final five minutes of play. Luton hit tight end Logan Javernick with an 8-yard score at the 4:55 mark, and Brian Burt had a 12-yard touchdown run with 52 seconds remaining. Crumbie set up the final score of the half with his second interception, leading to Luton's 7-yard strike to Brandon Jordan. The Pirates led 34-17 at intermission.
VC seemed in control early in the third period when Kendric Mallory scored on a 27-yard pass from Luton, taking a 40-17 lead. The extra point kick was blocked, however, and the Vaqueros returned it 98 yards for two points, setting the stage for a Santa Barbara rally. The Vaqueros scored two touchdowns in the third quarter to close to within 40-33 at the end of the period.
The Pirates righted the ship with a 23-yard Luton touchdown pass to Jordan with 7:29 remaining in the game, but SBCC answered with their own trip to the end zone with 2:51 remaining to make the finish interesting. The Pirate defense closed the game with a pair of quarterback sacks from Malik Alatasi Haynes to secure the victory.
The two teams combined for 1,126 yards of total offense in the game, with the Pirates posting 650 of them. 11 different VC receivers caught balls from Luton, including six for Mallory, five for Houston, and four for Matt Younkers, in addition to Taylor's seven catches. In addition to Brown's ground game, Burt had 13 carries for 70 yards and a touchdown.
Darrian McIntyre, Haydon Kutcha, Grant Bouma, and Zavala all had nine tackles defensively for Ventura.
The Pirates, ranked No. 8 in the state's preseason poll get little time to savor the "Big Game" win. They head into National Division play next week, hosting No. 6 Mt. San Antonio at the Sportsplex on Saturday Sept. 10. Kickoff against the Mounties is scheduled for 6:00 pm and the game can be seen live on the VC Sports Network.