Ventura’s Running Game Sparkles, 44-22

Midway through the season, the Ventura College football team seemed, like a 1964 bottle of Dom Perignon, destined for the cellar.

Although the Pirates will not be popping the corks on any championship celebration yet, they appear to be coming of age, having won their past two games after an 0-6 start. Saturday afternoon, Ventura put Compton on ice with a 44-22 Western State Conference victory.

Visiting Ventura dominated the game physically and piled up more than 250 yards with a ground- and clock-consuming rushing game. Ventura running back Tony Williams (5-foot-5, 182 pounds) rushed for a game-high 142 yards in 20 carries and scored twice.

Williams put Ventura (2-6, 2-5 in conference play, 2-1 in division play) on top on its first possession when he hauled in a swing pass from Tim Albrent, broke an arm tackle on the left sideline, headed back toward the middle of the field, humiliated a group of would-be tacklers there and sprinted into the left corner for a dazzling 34-yard touchdown.

“I don’t know what I did on that one,” said Williams, who has gained more than 300 yards in his past two games.

Normally pass-happy Ventura threw the ball only six times in the second half. Leading, 30-22, in the fourth quarter, Ventura delivered the crowning blow when it ran the ball on all 13 plays of an 80-yard scoring drive. Robert Cunningham dived in from a yard out for the touchdown with less than five minutes remaining.

“We trapped, we ran wide, we went inside,” Ventura Coach Dick James said. “When I knew we could run the football, I decided we weren’t going to throw it.”

Eleven players carried the ball for Ventura, and Cunningham supported Williams with 35 yards in seven carries and one touchdown.

Albrent completed three of nine passes for 58 yards.