Shooting Shocks Ventura College

Only two days before a big game against Moorpark College, two Ventura College football players were shot late Thursday night after attending a Moorpark High football game.

Leading rusher John Johnson and starting cornerback Roderick Jones, both of Oxnard, were injured by an apparently random shotgun blast fired from a passing car at a Moorpark shopping center and will miss the remainder of the season, including a pivotal 7:30 home game tonight against Moorpark.

“I don’t know if they’ve had time to digest the situation,” Ventura Coach Phil Passno said of his players, who learned of the incident at a 9:30 practice Friday morning. “Obviously, their first concern is about their friends who’ve been hurt. The game takes a second-place atmosphere. After time, the feeling becomes that they want to play well for these guys.”

Ventura can ill afford to lose another running back. Ryan Rapoza, who has rushed for 544 yards, only nine fewer yards than Johnson, will play sparingly because of a broken finger.

Passno scheduled a 3 p.m. workout for his quarterbacks and running backs today to try to sort out the backfield situation.

“It really doesn’t affect too much,” said Johnson, who was hit by seven pellets--three of which remain in his legs--and will attend the game in a wheelchair. “We’ve got eight running backs, and they’re all good.”

Whoever replaces Johnson will have the unenviable task of facing a Moorpark defense ranked first in the state against the rush and fourth overall.

Last year, Moorpark, unbeaten at the time, lost to Ventura, 12-10, on a last-second field goal. The loss knocked the Raiders out of Potato Bowl consideration.

“I think they’ll probably be the toughest team we play all year long,” Moorpark Coach Jim Bittner said. “It’s like the USC-UCLA type thing. You like to play good against your friends. . . . I think it’s a good rivalry. I think both programs tend to make the other stronger. It’s almost like two brothers going at it.”

The teams initially met in 1968, and they split the first two contests. Ventura won 10 in a row from 1972 to 1981 and holds a 16-5 advantage. Despite winning two of the past three meetings, Moorpark still has a chip on its shoulder pads. “Coach Bittner gave us a pep talk,” linebacker Scott Yurek said. “He said when Moorpark was down for all those years, Ventura beat them, but now it’s changing.”

This time, the game should decide more than just the champion of Ventura County. If Moorpark (7-1, 6-1 in Western State Conference play, 3-0 in the Northern Division) wins, it will be guaranteed at least a share of the Northern Division championship. Ventura (7-1, 6-1, 2-1) needs to beat Moorpark and Glendale to win the Northern Division. Moorpark and Ventura are ranked ninth and 11th in the state, respectively.

Ventura has been so focused on playing Moorpark that it was upset last week by Harbor, 26-20. “I think the attitude was we lost the game because we couldn’t concentrate,” Passno said. “We thought so much about winning this (Moorpark) game.”

Moorpark also was banged up in its last game, a four-hour marathon win over Glendale. Yurek, who almost blocked Ventura’s winning kick last year, has a severely sprained ankle but may play. Leading receiver James Gambrell could miss the rest of the season because of a strained medial collateral ligament.

Moorpark’s offense ranks second in the state. Quarterback Jayson Merrill has passed for 1,380 yards, and Freddie Bradley, the leading scorer in the state, has rushed for 971 yards.

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