Local college football roundup: VC's comeback bid falls short; Moorpark wins; CLU loses
The Ventura College football team dug out of a 23-0 hole Saturday night in Long Beach.
But the Pirates could not complete the comeback in their weather-interrupted SCFA Northern Conference opener.
The Pirates fell 33-26 to host Long Beach City College in a game that was delayed by weather multiple times at Veterans Stadium.
Tim Grear caught five passes for 120 yards and a touchdown and Jesse Valenzuela returned a free kick 72 yards for a touchdown to lead the Pirates (4-2, 0-1).
Quarterback Ezekiel Savage II completed 15 of 38 passes for 176 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
Long Beach (4-2, 1-0) built a 23-0 lead in the second quarter on three Jonathan Watson touchdown runs and a 28-yard Mario de la Torre field goal.
VC would pull even by scoring 23 points in a five-minute span late in the second quarter. Pedro Gandarilla’s 1-yard TD run, Valenzuela’s kick return — which followed a safety — and Grear’s 3-yard TD pass from Savage tied the score 23-23 at the half.
But a fourth Watson TD run with 10:25 allowed Long Beach to recover.
Moorpark wins
Bennett Johnston threw for three touchdowns and Gabe Landless ran for a score and caught a TD pass as the Moorpark College football team opened SCFA Pacific Conference play with a 49-13 win at host Santa Monica on Thursday night at Corsair Stadium.
Johnston completed 13 of 20 passes for 187 yards as the Raiders improved to 3-3, 1-0 in conference play.
Trailing 7-0 early, Moorpark scored 35 straight points to take control.
Johnson hit Landess for a 11-yard TD pass and Christian Revis-Keener with a 52-yard scoring strike 36 seconds apart to give the Raiders the lead.
Landless’ 9-yard TD run with 4:16 left in the half gave Moorpark a 21-7 lead.
Cameron Davis’ 5-yard TD run and Louis Ortiz’s 32-yard fumble return for a TD pushed the lead to 35-7 in the third quarter.
Quentin Pooler (Pacifica High) capped the win with a 2-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.
Cal Lutheran University falls
The Cal Lutheran University football team was held to 203 yards of total offense in a 41-3 loss to host Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Zinda Field in Claremont.
Isaiah Martin ran for 63 yards for the Kingsmen (3-4), who fell to 1-2 in SCIAC play.
Daniel Burgos’ 27-yard field goal gave CLU a 3-0 lead in the second quarter.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura College's comeback falls short; Moorpark wins; CLU loses
