After battling for nearly a half to a scoreless tie against visiting El Camino, the Ventura College football team finally hit its stride, scoring twice in the final 1:22 in their 32-13 victory over the Warriors. JQ Brown rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown and Braden Siri passed for 166 yards and two scores while running another 60 yards with a trip to the end zone to lead the Pirates in the win. Adrian Soracco led the defense with 11 tackles in the game and Jett Alldredge totaled 10 stops.
It was a defensive battle in for a majority of the first half as neither team could get its offense untracked. Both teams punted following their opening possessions, then each committed a turnover. The Warriors were knocking on the door late in the first quarter before James Tuayemie intercepted an El Camino pass in the end zone, ending the threat.
On the ensuing possession Ventura drove to the Warriors' 32-yard line before failing on 4th-and-11.
Late in the first half, Ventura took over on their own 30. Primarily keeping the ball on the ground, the Pirates drove 70 yards in 10 plays, with 49 yards coming from the efforts of Brown out of the backfield. Siri, who also ran for 13 yards on the drive, ran to paydirt from two yards out on a play-action bootleg around the left side for the score. The extra point kick failed and VC led 6-0 with 1:22 remaining on the clock.
Siri puts @PirateVCFtbl in the board with the QB keeper, PAT is blocked. 6-0 Pirates @vcscolleges pic.twitter.com/n7qV8vPDuG
— VCPirateAthletics (@VCAthletics) September 18, 2022
Hoping to produce an answer, El Camino took over after the kickoff looking to pass. On the first play of the possession, they threw an interception to Aldredge who returned the ball back to the 23-yard line.
A play later, Siri threw a beautiful 20-yard touchdown strike to Sebastian Macaluso, whose spectacular grab along the side of the end zone was the Pirates' second touchdown in 44 seconds. The two-point conversion failed and VC led 12-0 at halftime.
The Pirate defense forced a three-and-out of the opening drive of the second half.
The offense gained possession on the Pirate 24-yard line and meticulously matriculated 76 yards down the field in 14 plays. The drive chewed up over six minutes of clock time and displayed a nice mix of runs and passes before Lamonte James found the end zone on a two yard run. Rafael Vargas converted the extra point for a 19-0 Ventura advantage midway through the third period.
El Camino was unable to sustain a drive on the next possession, punting the ball back to the Pirates, downing the ball at the 4-yard-line.
Ventura used the remaining 3:46 of the third quarter, and on the opening play of the fourth, Siri completed a 63-yard pass and run to Tim Grear for a touchdown. Vargas' kick made it 26-0 and the Pirates were firmly in control.
El Camino attempted to show some signs of life at that point, driving 99 yards in four plays for their first score of the game. After a VC punt, El Camino drove to paydirt once again, closing the gap to 26-13 with 6:24 remaining in the game.
But any thought of a Warrior comeback quickly faded, however. After an onside kick attempt that was recovered by the Pirates, Brown took ball on the first play from scrimmage and raced 56 yards through the middle of the ECC defense for a touchdown. The PAT was blocked, and Ventura set the final margin at 32-13.
Although El Camino outgained Ventura 431-413 and produced 27 first downs to VC's 21, the Pirates controlled the game with key stops and takeaways defensively and 247 yards of rushing offense. Ventura was 7-15 on third down conversions while ECC was just 3-15.
Siri was a respectable 17-28 through the air for 166 yards with a pair of touchdowns. He was also much more affective running the ball, boosting the Pirates' ground game.
The Pirates continue non-conference action on Saturday Sept. 24 with a road game at Chaffey College. Kickoff in Rancho Cucamonga is scheduled for 6:00 pm.