It was a heavy weight showdown Saturday night in Ventura as the #2 ranked Fullerton Hornets set off to face the #13 ranked Ventura Pirates.
Through the first quarter it was almost dead even resulting in a 6-3 lead by the visiting Hornets.
Ventura came out in the second quarter with Antavius Sims leading the Ventura offense down the field which set up the Pirates for a 30 yard field goal attempt that sailed wide right.
Ventura’s defense continued to play well on their next set of downs and shut down the Hornet offense, forcing them to punt.
Ventura looked to get the ball back, but the punt hit a Pirate player and Fullerton recovered the fumble which set them in great field position.
Fullerton quickly capitalized and had momentum scoring two straight touchdowns to make the score 20-3 Fullerton.
Ventura drove the ball all the way down the field and made a late field goal with five seconds left to put the score at 20-6 giving Ventura momentum going into the second half.
Ventura came out fired up and only used 11 seconds to score as Antavius Sims hooked up with wide receiver Kodarius Rice on a 64 yard pass pulling the Pirates within 8 making it a 20-12 ball game.
Fullerton quickly answered with a 44 yard passing play making it 27-12.
The Ventura defense was determined to stop Fullerton.
Sims drove the ball down the field again throwing a 13 yard touchdown pass to tight end Bennie Kirkwood.
After a three and out for Fullerton, Ventura got the ball back and Sims hit running back Michael Davis on a beautiful 11 yard screen pass making the score 25-27 Fullerton, but Ventura decided to go for two and converted making it all tied up in the third quarter.
“We were moving the ball all game and making some big plays,” said offensive line Coach Jason Bendinelli.
The momentum would soon shift as a punt was blocked and returned for a touchdown putting the Hornets up 34-27 at the end of the third.
Fullerton came through with a huge passing play late in the fourth putting the final touches on Moorpark 40-27.
“They were a tough team, we were nose to nose with them all game and they made some big plays,” said coach Sims.
“I love the fight in our team, we were down and came back and fought, we don’t give up,” said Middle Linebacker Brenden Daily.
Ventura has jumped to #9 in the rankings for their impressive play against Fullerton and look to take their frustrations out as they travel to play Santa Barbara City College on Saturday night.
