VENTURA — Underdog Dos Pueblos went into halftime at Larrabee Stadium Friday night trailing by only three points at 10-7, but the Chargers couldn’t move the sticks whatsoever in the second half and wound up losing 31-7 to Ventura (4-4, 2-1) to remain winless in Channel League play.
“Coming into the second half I thought we were going to be able to play well, but our receivers were dropping passes, I threw some bad passes and the line just couldn’t hold it together,” said Charger quarterback Zack Boytis. “Their defensive line was tough. I felt like every time I dropped back I got hit.”
Boytis finished 8-for-16 with 59 passing yards and was sacked four times. The DP rushing attack mustered only 54 yards.
The Chargers’ touchdown was actually scored by the defense, as Cory Micheel picked off a screen pass thrown by Ventura’s Keihan Gibbs and took it back 55 yards for a touchdown with 3:51 left in the first quarter. That made it 10-7, and it would stay that way until 1:36 remained in the third.
“We were right where we wanted to be in the first half. I mean, 7-10 against that team? We’ll take that any day,” said DP coach Jeff Uyesaka.
Ventura looked primed to put the game away early on. Ben Mann kicked a 29-yard field goal with 7:52 left in the first, and the Cougars somehow got to the ball on the kickoff before DP could, jumping on it on the 18-yard line. On the very next play, Gibbs found Rogelio Reyes in the back of the end zone, and the Cougars had scored 10 points in a 10-minute span.
But things slowed down offensively from there. DP’s Shane Taylor made a nice stop on a 3rd-and-7 play with the Cougars down on the DP 17, and Ventura went for it on 4th down and couldn’t convert. Micheel later landed a punt on the one-yard-line and Charger Alejandro Veloz made a key tackle that led to another Ventura punt.
The Chargers (2-6, 0-3) got gutsy late in the half, going for it on 4th-and-2 from the Ventura 20, converting on a 10-yard slant route by Shane Taylor. DP was pushed back, however, and came up empty heading into the locker room.
“We should have gone into halftime with the lead,” said Uyesaka.
DP’s pass protection began to break down in the second half, and the defense held tight but ultimately was forced to stay on the field too long. Ventura scored on a 23-yard screen pass from Gibbs to Reyes at the end of the third, and the duo would hook up again on an 11-yard score early in the fourth. Ventura capped the scoring when junior Max Mondol came in and threw a 14-yard strike to E.J. Turner on his very first toss of the night.
The Chargers now have a defined role, and that is to be a spoiler.
“We’re trying to be a spoiler here somewhere. We almost had it tonight, so we’re going to try to play St. Bonaventure the best we can and then go out against Buena at home on Senior Night,” said Uyesaka.
VENTURA 31, DOS PUEBLOS 7
Dos Pueblos…..7 0 0 0 — 7
Ventura………10 0 7 14 — 31
First Quarter
V: Mann 29 FG, 7:52
V: Reyes 18 pass from Gibbs (Mann kick), 7:42
DP: Micheel 55 INT return (Tangle kick), 3:51
Third Quarter
V: Reyes 23 pass from Gibbs (Mann kick), 1:36
Fourth Quarter
V: Reyes 11 pass from Gibbs (Mann kick), 10:19
V: Turner 14 pass from Mondol (Mann kick), 6:31
TEAM TOTALS DP V
First Downs 8 19
Rushes-Yards 29-54 38-213
Passing Yards 59 190
Total Yards 113 403
Comp-Att-Int 8-19-0 12-27-1
Penalties-Yds 3-28 7-70
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — DP: MacUmber 3-0, Parsons 4-17, Houston 11-34, Boytis 4 (-20), Taylor 1-2, Jasso 6-21. V: Melnar 16-103, Souter 4-23, Gibbs 7-26, Reyes 4-39, Harper 7-22.
PASSING — DP: Boytis 8-16-0-59, Houston 0-1-0-0, Johnson 0-2-0-0. V: Gibbs 10-24-1-174, Reyes 0-1-0-0, Mondol 2-2-16.
RECEIVING — DP: Guzman 1-12, Valencia 4-26, McGaughey 1-6, Taylor 1-10, Jasso 1-5. V: Turner 3-34, Hayes 2-17, Reyes 6-127, Vazquez 1-12.
MISSED FIELD GOALS — None.
TEAM RECORDS — DP 2-6, 0-3; V 4-4, 2-1.
