Hosting Orange Coast College the Ventura College football team picked up a 53-39 victory in the Beach Bowl. Chris Beeson went for 146 yards on 16 carries with two touchdowns to go over 1,000 yards rushing for the season. Ty Gangi hit on 25-38 passes for four touchdowns and 329 yards. Cam Taylor hauled in two touchdown catches.
In a match up of two 7-3 football teams both ranked in the top 10 in Southern California the No. 7-ranked VC Pirates were able to best the No. 9-ranked OCC Pirates. Ventura who had earned a share of the North division title had the chance to break a school record for passing touchdowns in a season and to have the first 1,000 yard rusher under Coach Steve Mooshagian. The stellar performance of a pair of Ventura offensive players made sure each of these benchmarks were reached, but it took a team effort to make sure VC came away with the victory.
Ventura opened the scoring for the game when they marched 75 yards down the field in eight plays culminated by Gangi finding Riley Smith from 4-yards out to put VC on top. VC's defense came out and held OCC to just 16 yards on nine plays in their opening drive and after a blocked punt Ventura took over at their own 42 yard line. Beeson completed a five play 58 yard drive when he went in from 4-yards out, VC missed the extra point to hold a 13-0 led when the kick was blocked by Orange Coast.
After holding OCC scoreless on their next drive, Ventura went to work extending their advantage with a 11 play 79 yard drive which resulted in a Jake Lanski field goal from 27 yards out. Orange Coast cut the deficit to 16-7 when they got on the board with a 1-yard TD run. VC quickly got the points back as Gangi marched Ventura down the field 75 yards in eight plays when CJ Pride hauling in a 19 yard touchdown pass to go up 23-7. OCC quickly answered with a long touchdown pass and after Ventura fumbled the ensuing kickoff Orange Coast hit on a short field goal to make the score 23-16 late in the second quarter. Ventura went on a time consuming 12 play 60 yard drive eating up about four minutes of game clock capped by a Lanski 32 yard field goal to go up 26-16. VC's defense forced OCC off the field in just five plays to get Ventura the ball back quickly and when Gangi hit Cam Taylor from 5-yards out the advantage was now 33-16 and completed the first half scoring.
Ventura which had not lost a game all year in which they scored over 30 points looked to continue the trend. VC took advantage of several early mistakes from OCC to eventually take a 50-24 advantage late in the game. Ventura scored on a touchdown pass from Gangi to Taylor from 3-yards out and with a Beeson 10-yard scoring run. Lanksi hit a field goal from 29 yards out. OCC cut back into the deficit during this time to make it a 50-24 advantage before Lanksi hit from 45 yards out to give the Pirates 53 points in the game, which is the most points ever scored by a Ventura football team in a post-season game. OCC tried to get back in the game, but was unable to overcome the Pirates defense and eventually Ventura claimed the victory.
Ventura was paced defensively by Malcolm Williams with eight tackles. Ereck Wilson Jr., Grant Bouma and Tre Haynes each added seven tackles. Haynes and Mark Zavala both had one and half sacks in the game. Darrian McIntyre collected a fumble recovery for the Pirates after a muffed kickoff by OCC.
In the win Ventura saw a bit of history rewritten as previously mentioned the 53 points is the most by a VC football team in a post-season game. When Gangi threw his fourth touchdown of the night it marked the 30th Pirates touchdown pass of the year which is also a school record. Beeson, as well, set a bit of history himself tonight as he became the first 1,000 yard rusher during the successful five year coaching stint of head coach Steve Mooshagian. As well, Beeson was named the Ventura College Player of the Game, while Gangi earned the Beach Bowl Most Valuable Player Award. The win marks the Pirates second bowl victory under Mooshagian.
Ventura finished the year with a share of a conference title for back to back seasons and an 8-3 overall record.
