Venice Takes Over First in Pac 8 Race

Venice High retained sole possession of first place in the Pac 8 League with a 15-12 come-from-behind victory over Reseda Friday night at Venice.

The Gondoliers, who are unbeaten in four league games, won it with a 67-yard, 15-play drive that ended with Bob Tomaselli scoring on a one-yard run on fourth down with 9:27 remaining.

Ernie Soto’s conversion pass to David Gonzalez provided the final points.

The Venice defense then took over, twice intercepting Reseda quarterback Daryl Mickens in the final 3:16.

The loss all but knocked Reseda out of contention for the league title. The Regents are 2-2 with three games remaining.

Venice (5-1 overall) put together its winning drive after Reseda (3-3) had taken a 12-7 lead with 2:14 left in the third quarter.

Reseda’s Doug Britton scored on a three-yard run to end a 56-yard drive.

Soto then brought Venice back, completing 4 passes for 52 yards and gaining 11 yards on a third-down run that gave the Gondoliers a first down at the Venice three-yard line.

It was a good win for Venice, which wore its jerseys inside-out during warmups as a reminder of its 37-0 loss to Reseda last season.

The Gondoliers no doubt had put last year’s game out of their minds by the time Ray Gordon scored on a 62-yard run early in the second quarter.

Gordon appeared to be stopped for about a five-yard gain, but he kept his legs moving, outsprinting two defenders to the end zone.

“They kind of let up,” Gordon said of the defenders who hit him initially. “They were trying to arm-tackle me, but I kept going.”

Nito Messina’s kick made it 7-0.

Reseda’s Ronald Wilkinson made a similar run near the end of the half, breaking a tackle at the line of scrimmage, popping outside and gaining 55 yards before Dwayne Lortie dragged him down at the Venice seven-yard line.

From there, it took the Regents four plays--and a lot of luck--to score.

As Wilkinson dove for the goal line on fourth-and-two, the ball flew out of his hands and into the end zone. Tackle Peter Kim dove on it just inside the back line, giving the Regents a touchdown 32 seconds before the half.

Reseda went for two points on the conversion, but came up empty when quarterback Daryl Mickens, who completed 6 of 7 first-half passes for 71 yards, threw incomplete as he was hit by Paul Nikcevic.