Local college football: Comeback win puts Ventura back in SoCal playoffs; MC and CLU lose
As the Saturday night fog dissipated, the route to the postseason became clear for the Ventura College football team.
Tyler Woodworth pulled in a 21-yard touchdown catch with 1:14 to play and Alijah Hamilton followed with the game-clinching interception as the Pirates came from behind for a dramatic 21-20 win over visiting El Camino College at the VC Sportplex.
“Down to the last play,” Ventura College coach Steve Mooshagian said.
The comeback win, combined with College of the Canyons’ loss at Bakersfield, clinched VC’s eighth trip to the Southern California regional playoffs in the past 12 seasons.
“It all happened so fast,” said Mooshagian, who was informed of COC's loss by an assistant coach as he was addressing the team after the game. “I thought we just clinched the share of the title.”
Quarterback Chris Irvin completed 18 of 29 passes for 214 yards and three TDs as VC (7-2) improved to 6-0 in SCFA Northern Conference play.
Teandre Newcomb caught six passes for 94 yards and a TD. Woodworth (Ventura High) and Eli Aragon (Oxnard High) also caught TD passes.
“El Camino is a good football team,” Mooshagian said. "Next to Mt. SAC, that was the best team we played all year."
El Camino (6-3, 4-2) did a great job limiting the powerful VC running game. Lamont James ran for 81 yards on 23 carries and Jaylen Thompson ran for 60 yards on 18 carries.
VC entered play in sole possession of first place with El Camino, Canyons and Hancock within a game. But the Pirates’ dramatic win, combined with Canyons’ 35-21 loss at Bakersfield, decided the playoff berth.
“It goes to show you what you can do when you have 60 kids that play together really well,” Mooshagian said. “That’s what we’ve got right now. We don’t have a big, giant roster. We’ve got 60 kids who are playing for each other.”
Trailing 20-14 with less than five minutes to play, VC drove 67 yards in 12 plays for the title-clinching score.
The fog that had enveloped the Sportsplex seemed to part after James converted a fourth-and-2 with a punishing inside run on the VC 41.
Irvin converted third downs with a 15-yard pass to Aragon and a 10-yard pass to Newcomb, setting up his 21-yard scoring strike to Woodworth with 1:14 to play.
Hamilton made a diving interception three plays later to put the game away with 53 seconds left.
With the result, Mooshagian also became the first head coach in program history with 100 wins.
“It all goes back to recruiting the right players and hiring the right coaches,” Mooshagian said. “I’ve been blessed to have a bunch of really good coaches and a bunch of really good players.”
When Mooshagian was hired in 2010, Dick James held the school record with 66 wins.
“It goes by fast,” Mooshagian said.
VC took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards in seven plays, taking a 7-0 lead on Irvin’s 5-yard TD pass to Eli Aragon (Oxnard High).
El Camino pulled even on Kendal Taylor’s 6-yard run with 3:43 left in the first quarter and took a 10-7 lead on Cooper Dileva’s 23-yard field goal with 51 seconds left in the half.
VC regained the lead 14-13 on Irvin’s 10-yard TD pass to Newcome with 18 seconds left in the third quarter.
The score was set up by one of the biggest plays of the night. The ball was jarred loose after Irvin’s 24-yard pass to Caleb Alvary, but Woodworth was downfield to scoop it up and advance the fumble 49 yards to the El Camino 6-yard line.
“Johnny on the spot,” Mooshagian said.
El Camino pulled ahead 20-14 with 11:07 to play on Jakai Torres’ 2-yard run.
The Pirates turned the ball over on downs with 7:14 to play, but the defense forced a quick three-and-out to set up the final heroics.
“The defense played really, really well,” Mooshagian said. “Two big-time stops when we held them to field goals made the difference in my mind. Our defense played their butts off. El Camino has one of the best offenses in the state."
Although the playoff berth is sewn up due to the head-to-head win over Hancock, VC can clinch the conference title outright this Saturday by winning its regular-season finale at Canyons.
“That could be a seeding game,” Mooshagian said, mentioning VC’s position within the four-team regional playoff structure.
Santa Barbara City 30, Moorpark 22
Macloud Crowton completed 29 of 56 passes for 359 yards and three touchdowns and Noah Cronquist (Moorpark High) caught 10 passes for 183 yards and two scores, but the Raiders (2-7) fell to 0-6 in SCFA Northern Conference play.
Moorpark twice tied the game in the second quarter on TD passes from Crowton to Cronquist, a 7-yard score that completed a six-play, 79-yard drive to make it 7-7 with 10:06 left in the half and a 61-yard strike that tied the game at 14-14 with 6:54 left.
Crowton’s 11-yard TD pass to Gabriel Landless (Royal High) was the final score with 4:45 to play.
Moorpark will complete its season this Saturday at Antelope Valley College.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 30, Cal Lutheran University 13
Quarterback James McNamara (Camarillo High) completed 14 of 25 passes for 163 yards and a TD and also ran for 92 yards as the Kingsmen completed their season with a fourth straight loss.
Cade Cadam caught eight passes for 62 yards and a 3-yard TD pass from McNamara with 9:12 left in the third quarter. Daniel Burgos converted field goals of 27 and 32 yards to keep CLU within 17-13 after three quarters.
But CMS, led by 122 rushing yards and two TDs by running back Justin Edwards, pulled away with 13 points in the fourth quarter.
CLU (3-6) finished third in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference three-team Surf pod at 2-5.
Joe Curley covers high school, collegiate and professional football for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcsjoecurley on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Comeback win puts Ventura College football back in SoCal playoffs
