COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOOTBALL : El Camino College Crushes Ventura, 50-7

Ventura College Coach Dick James predicted early last week that the El Camino football team would be emotionally fired up after losing its opener to College of the Sequoias, 57-24, on Sept. 14.

It took only 20 seconds for James to find out how accurate his prediction would be.

El Camino linebacker Jim Rudberg stepped in front of Ventura wide receiver Shawn Young to intercepted quarterback Matt Brimigion’s second pass and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown as the Warriors (1-1) routed Ventura, 50-7, at Ventura’s Larrabee Stadium.

Three minutes 6 seconds later, Brimigion and Young were victimized again during a similar sideline rout. Warrior linebacker Lamar Mickey stepped in front of Young at the 50-yard line and raced down the sideline untouched for a 14-0 lead.

Ventura drove to the El Camino 40 on its next series before punting to the El Camino 18. The Warrior offense needed only two plays to score.

El Camino wide receiver Latario Rachal beat Ventura cornerback Anthony Morales and grabbed a pass from quarterback Jerry Singleton and raced 86 yards for a touchdown and 21-0 lead.

“We gave them two touchdowns right off, then they got one they earned and before the kids could even take a breath, we were down 21 to nothing,” James said.

El Camino sophomore running back Mark Harper caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Singleton in the second quarter and added scoring runs of seven and eight yards. He finished with 91 yards rushing in 20 carries.

Ventura (0-1) avoided a shutout in the third quarter after J.J. Alvarez’s kickoff return to the El Camino 39.

Quarterback Isaac Lopez, who shared playing time with Brimigion after the first quarter, tossed a 28-yard touchdown pass to fullback William Mills to trim the deficit to 43-7 late in the third quarter.

El Camino travels to Saddleback on Saturday.

--PAUL OLSON