All it took was 58 seconds for Ventura College (6-1, 3-0 WSC) to seal a victory.
The Cougars fumbled on the second play of the game, giving the Pirates the ball inside the Cougar 20. Two plays later and less than a minute into the game, the Pirates were up 7-0, and never looked back.
After Dominique Morris rumbled into the end zone for the first score of the game, the Pirates never looked back, cruising past College of the Canyons (5-3, 2-2 WSC) 23-6 Saturday night at Ventura.
But the Cougars would not learn their lesson, and when a Cougar player ran into his own player and fumbled the ball, the games fate was clear.
If it weren’t for a fake field goal try on fourth down, the Pirates would have scored on their first two possessions while the Cougars fumbled on their first two possessions.
A great punt return by Pirate receiver Nick Karam erased the failed fourth-down conversion, once again giving the Pirates excellent field position. Pirates’ quarterback Antavius Sims threw a six-yard strike to extend their lead to 14-0.
Despite running the same number of plays on offense in the first quarter, the Cougars totaled 68 fewer yards of total offense.
The Cougars fumbled the ball seven times in the game, losing the ball five times. The Pirates were able to get excellent field position every time the Cougars fumbled, and because they did not turn every turnover into points, the final score certainly did not indicate the blowout it really was.
The Cougars had a chance to make it a game on a long pass play that put them inside the Pirates’ five-yard line. However, a personal foul negated the great play, and the Cougars eventually fumbled for the fourth time, as Pirate linebacker Loren Powers recovered the ball.
The Cougars had 10 penalties for 125 yards in the game, but none more costly than the one that nullified on the long pass play.
Despite Sims being out with an injury for the remainder of the game, he managed to complete 10 of 13 passes for 107 yards, and even run for 62 yards on eight carries in the first half.
The Cougars’ anemic offense allowed the Pirate defense to prevent the game from getting any closer.
In fact, the Cougars were on the verge of getting shut out for the first time since the football program was revived in 1998 if it weren’t for a meaningless 5-yard touchdown pass by Justin Morales to Michael Rivera with 2:35 remaining.
Sophomore Linebacker Ryan Panapa, said he had been told his entire football career how important it was to win the turnover game.
“Growing up all I heard from my coaches was if you win the turnover game you would win the game,” said Panapa.
The Pirates have a true challenge awaiting them when they travel to Bakersfield College next Saturday.
However, Panapa believes that tonight’s victory will give the Pirates a lot of drive and energy that will be critical for their game at Bakersfield.
“It (the win) will give us a lot of momentum going into our next game.”
