Pirates Dominate Chaffey, Move to 4-0

Pirate defensive players Chris Lyons (10), Jacob Nunez (45) and Demetrius Edwards corral a Chaffey ball carrier in the second half of VC's 60-0 victory over the Panthers. The 60-point margin was the largest margin of victory over a community college team in program history.
Pirate defensive players Chris Lyons (10), Jacob Nunez (45) and Demetrius Edwards corral a Chaffey ball carrier in the second half of VC's 60-0 victory over the Panthers. The 60-point margin was the largest margin of victory over a community college team in program history.

The Pirate football team put on a show Saturday night at the VC Sportsplex, dominating visiting Chaffey College 60-0 in the program's largest margin of victory against a community college team over nearly a century of play. Quarterback Jordan Pachot threw for 326 yards and two touchdowns and Ventura gained 243 yards on the ground with four more scores. The Ventura defense held the Panthers to 147 yards of total offense posting its first shutout on the field since 2017.

After forcing the Panthers into a three-and-out on the opening possession of the game, the Pirates drove 38 yards to the Chaffey 31-yard line before facing 4th-and-8. Alberto Arroyo connected on a 48-yard field goal to put VC on the board, 3-0.

On their next possession, Ventura methodically marched down the field against the overmatched Panther defense. The Pirates went 73 yards in 11 plays, with Terrell Vaughn punctuating the drive with a one yard touchdown reception on a pass from Pachot. Arroyo's kick made it 10-0 for the Pirates after one quarter of play.

Early in the second period, the Pirates had another long drive. VC matriculated 86 yards in 10 plays to paydirt with Pachot providing the final 10 yards on a quarterback scramble around the right end. Pachot provided 80 yards in passing on the drive including a 26-yard strike to Brady Sturdivan and a 23-yard completion to Gaven Brasker.

After another Panther three-and-out, Ventura once again completely controlled the line of scrimmage, marching 84 yards in an astounding 18 plays ending in another Arroyo field goal, this time from 29 yards out. VC led 20-0 with 2:31 remaining until halftime.

On the first play of Chaffey's ensuing possession, Travis Calloway intercepted a Panther pass, returning the ball 34 yards to the Chaffey 6-yard line. Three plays later Pachot found Isaiah Issac from two yards out for another score.  The PAT sailed wide and Ventura took a 26-0 lead into the locker room.

VC received the second half kick, once again putting together a long scoring drive. Julian Kelly found paydirt from two yards out to complete the drive, and Arroyo's kick solidified the Pirate advantage at 33-0 just over two minutes into the third quarter.

Late in the stanza, Arroyo connected on his third field goal of the night, splitting the uprights from 38 yards out.

The scores came more rapidly for the Pirates in the final 15 minutes. Arroyo connected from 46 yards out with 9:46 left in the game and Jesse Valenzuela had a 34-yard scoring run two minutes later.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Panther returner muffed the catch near the goal line with the ball continuing past the goal line.  The receivers left the ball in the end zone and Ventura's Sydarin Vinson raced down in coverage, falling on the unclaimed pigskin for another Ventura touchdown.

VC's final score of the night came on a 12-yard run by Derek West with Arroyo's kick setting the final 60-0 margin.

The 60-point margin of victory is the largest in program history against a community college team. The Pirates defeated the freshman team from then-Santa Barbara State 68-0 in 1933, and VC beat Santa Monica by 55 points in 2016 (76-21) and 2017 (55-0). This year's 62-5 win over Moorpark had been the largest margin of victory at 57 points until Saturday. 

The Pirates' domination over the Panthers was complete across the board. VC had 37 first downs to Chaffey's 11 and the Pirates won the time of possession battle, 37:02 to 22:51. Ventura outgained Chaffey 579-147 offensively while limiting the Panthers to 80 yards passing and 67 yards rushing, respectively.

West and Kelly led the balanced ground game for Ventura with 43 and 41 yards, respectively. Kevin Tate led the receiving corps with six catches for 82 yards and Vaughn had five receptions for 52 yards and a touchdown. VC had 13 different receivers record a catch in the game.

Defensively Jonah Rubadue led the way with five tackles. Ralph Navarro had four stops while Donyai Dixon and Angelo Jewell each recorded three tackles.

Ventura, ranked No. 2 in the latest JC Athletic Bureau Coaches Poll, next travels to No. 17 Saddleback on Saturday Oct. 2 to close out its non-conference schedule.