Ventura shuts out Oxnard in 99th meeting between Ventura County's oldest football rivals

The Ventura High football team celebrated the 100th anniversary of its first meeting with its oldest rival by doing something it hadn’t done in 59 years.

One week after being shut out in a mystifying performance at Thousand Oaks High, the Cougars answered by pitching its own shutout, a 35-0 blanking of visiting Oxnard in the 99th meeting of Ventura County’s oldest rivalry.

“That was not who we are (last week),” Ventura coach Tim Garcia said. “We came out a little bit slow tonight, as well, but it wasn’t lack of effort. It was just trying to get into some kind of rhythm.

“As the night went on, we started to find our rhythm.”

It was the first time the Cougars had shut out an opponent one week after being shut out since 1964, when it stymied Hueneme 19-0 after being stopped by Santa Barbara, 24-0.

“We all had to flip a switch,” said safety Zayne McCulley, who had an interception and returned a punt 75 yards to set up a score. “I’m glad we all came out with energy.”

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The shutout was Ventura’s 15th against Oxnard in the rivalry’s 100 years, but just the second since 1961. The Cougars shut down the Yellowjackets 26-0 in 2003.

Quarterback Logan Scarlett completed 12 of 25 passes for 164 yards and three touchdowns, tight end Josh Woodworth caught eight passes for 96 yards and a TD, and running backs Sawyer Cline and Gage Kushner combined to rush for 99 yards and a score apiece on 20 carries as the Cougars improved to 2-1.

“Good teams work together and stay as a team,” Woodworth said.

Despite being limited to eight first downs and 147 yards of total offense, Oxnard (0-2) managed to keep the game close into the second half. But the mistakes, especially on offense and special teams, piled up as the night wore on.

“Let’s be honest, we’re a young team,” first-year Oxnard coach Lonnie McCowan said. “We’re not good enough to beat good football teams when we’re killing ourselves. … We can’t keep making those mistakes.”

Ventura scored three times on short fields set by a muffed punt, a muffed kickoff and an interception.

“There were some situations where we shot ourselves in the foot,” McCowan said.

Oxnard ran one play inside the Ventura 40-yard line and it came on the final play of the night.

“Last week, we kind of put it together offensively early and defensively we were slow,” McCowan said. “This week, it was kind of vice versa. It’s just a matter of figuring out a way for us to put it all together.”

Ventura took a 7-0 lead on Scarlett’s 5-yard TD pass to Woodworth with 1:30 left in the first quarter.

The 10-play, 44-yard scoring drive was set up by Gavin Calderon’s interception and extended by a third-down pass interference flag.

Oxnard showed life with a goal-line stand, turning the Cougars over on downs after they reached the 1-yard line following Scarlett’s 42-yard pass to Woodworth.

“Big stop,” McCowan said.

But Ventura was able to double the lead before halftime, cashing in a muffed punt on the Oxnard 27 with Cline’s 3-yard run.

After Oxnard muffed the second-half kickoff, Ventura turned it into a 21-0 lead on Scarlett’s 7-yard TD pass to David Nunez with 8:56 left in the third quarter.

Makana Arndt’s 42-yard scoring strike from Scarlett pushed the Ventura lead to 28-0 with 4:07 left in the third quarter.

McCulley’s 75-yard interception return set up Kushner’s 8-yard TD run with 5:08 left.

When Ventura County football began a century ago, Oxnard, Ventura and Fillmore were the first three schools to field teams.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” Woodworth said. “I didn’t know that. … It was just fun to know that it’s been this long. We’re keeping the tradition alive out here.”

So Friday night’s game represented the 100th anniversary of the school’s first meeting in 1923.

“When you think about that, it’s like we tell these guys every day, ‘This is bigger than you,’ ” Garcia said. “That’s why we don’t have the names on the back or your jersey. People come and go. This football program has been going for a long time. Even if I wasn’t going to be here tomorrow, Cougar football would still go on.

“It’s pretty special to be involved with something that has that much history.”

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 @vcspreps on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura shuts out Oxnard in 99th meeting between football rivals