Local college football: Four return TDs give Moorpark home win; VC, CLU win on road

Homecoming provided many happy returns for the Moorpark College football team on Saturday.

The Raiders scored four touchdowns on returns — two interceptions, a punt, and a blocked punt — on their way to a 32-26 win over visiting Grossmont College at Griffin Stadium.

The big plays allowed the Raiders to overcome only gaining 136 yards of total offense and 11 first downs. Moorpark was outgained by more than 300 yards.

Linebacker Nico Narez (Pacifica High) had eight tackles and defensive end Payton Casillas (Thousand Oaks High) had two sacks to lead the Moorpark defense.

Moorpark took a 6-0 lead on defensive lineman Arnulfo Morales’ 20-yard interception return with 7:00 left in the first quarter.

Forty-five seconds later, Michael Garibay returned a blocked punt 28 yards for a 13-0 lead.

A 63-yard punt return by Daniel Pierce (Pacifica High) pushed the lead to 22-3 with 54 seconds left in the half.

Linebacker Ty Ely (Oaks Christian) returned an interception 45 yards as Moorpark built a 29-3 lead with 9:29 left in the third quarter.

Grossmont scored three times in the fourth quarter to pull within one score, but Daniel Burke’s 29-yard field goal helped put the game away for the Raiders.

Moorpark improves to 2-2 ahead of this week’s trip to Pasadena City College.

VC recovers to win

Despite losing starting quarterback Braden Siri to injury and falling in a 13-point first-half hole, the Ventura College football team recovered to earn a 21-13 win at Chaffey College on Saturday night in Rancho Cucamonga.

Nate Frederick (Agoura High) came off the bench to complete 9 of 14 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Pirates (3-1).

Down 13-0 midway through the second quarter, Frederick hit Chris Reaves for a 41-yard TD pass to get the Pirates back in the game.

Frederick’s 19-yard TD pass to Sebastian Macaluso (Oaks Christian) gave VC its first lead with 4:51 left in the third quarter.

Jesse Valenzuela (Camarillo High) extended the lead to 21-13 with a 26-yard touchdown run with 2:20 left in the game.

Reaves caught seven passes for 92 yards and Valenzuela ran for 56 yards on six carries to lead the Pirates.

Defensively, linebacker Adrian Soracco had a team-high 10 tackles, linebacker Jett Aldredge (Moorpark High) had an interception, and defensive lineman Spencer Moore (Camarillo High) and cornerback James Tuayamie recovered fumbles.

VC hosts Saddleback this Saturday night at the VC Sportsplex.

CLU wins on road

The Cal Lutheran University football team scored 10 points in a 68-second span early in the fourth quarter to come from behind and beat host Pacific Lutheran University, 17-14, on Saturday afternoon in Puyallup, Washington.

Down 14-7 entering the fourth quarter, quarterback Nick Lasher hit Julio Angel with a game-tying 25-yard scoring strike to cap a seven-play, 72-yard drive.

After Arthur Orta recovered a fumble on the subsequent kickoff, Daniel Burgos’ 39-yard field goal gave the Kingsmen their first lead, 17-14, with 11:50 to play.

Junior defensive back Daylen Wilson put the game away with takeaways on the final two PLU possessions. Wilson recovered a fumble on the CLU 27 with 6:31 left and intercepted a pass on the CLU 22 with 3:12 to play, allowing the offense to run out the clock.

Lasher completed 22 of 37 passes for 192 yards, one TD and one interception as CLU improved to 2-2.

CLU visits Whittier in SCIAC play this week.

Joe Curley covers high school, collegiate and professional football for The Star. He can be reached at joe.curley@vcstar.com. For more coverage of local college sports, follow @vcscolleges on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Local college football: Four return TDs give Moorpark a homecoming win