Football Suffers 28-29 Loss to Ventura
The Bulldogs fought until the very end against Ventura College, but ended up losing by just one point. The game was 0-0 well into the first quarter, when Ventura scored their first touchdown. At the top of the second quarter Chris Wheeler got his first of three interceptions, but the drive faltered and the Bulldogs ended up punting.
With five minutes left in the half Ventura scored again, making it 14-0 and then with three seconds left in the half the Pirates ran for one more. At the end of the first half the Bulldogs were down 0-21.
Hancock got on the board with 11 minutes left in the third quarter when Shane Henderson caught a 75 yard pass for a touchdown. Aaron Ley intercepted the ball two minutes later and the Bulldogs brought the ball within 15 yards of the end zone, but the drive ended with no touchdown.
Still in the third quarter, Wheeler intercepted the ball again and this time a pass to Henderson and a three-yard touchdown run by Cameron Artis-Payne brought the score to 14-21. Another successful drive by the Bulldogs ended with a touchdown by Artis-Payne with less than four minutes on the clock.
With the score at 21-21, Bennie Garrett forced a fumble on the kickoff and Bobby Collins reclaimed the ball for the Bulldogs. Henderson caught a pass for a first down and with a 10-yard face mask penalty against Ventura, the Bulldogs were within scoring range with less than two minutes on the clock.
Andy Bridge ran it in with an 11-yard run, evading a tackle at the nine-yard line to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game, 28-21 with 1:30 on the clock. The crowd was on their feet as the Bulldog's defense faced Ventura at the 50-yard line. A sack by Bryan Aiwohi bought the Bulldogs nine yards, but the Pirates steadily moved down the field and with eight seconds left in the game the Pirates were on the Bulldog's four yard line. A touchdown pass and a successful 2-point conversion and the final score was 28-29.
The Bulldogs are now 2-1 in conference and face El Camino at home on Nov. 5.