Southwest Overcomes Ventura

L.A. Southwest College used to be the doormat of the Western State Conference. That’s past tense, however, in the Cougars’ case, as Ventura found out Saturday night at Larrabee Stadium.

Southwest proved to Ventura that it has taken several steps up from the Western State Conference’s basement, handing the Pirates their third consecutive defeat, 34-29.

Freshman quarterback Jesse Wallace, a former Monroe High standout, rallied Southwest with 22 fourth-quarter points. He completed 16 of 34 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns.

After Ventura ran three plays and punted, Southwest (4-1, 4-0 in conference play) drove 55 yards in eight plays on its first series. Freshman running back Takim Brown scored from three yards on a power dive up the middle to give Southwest an early 6-0 lead.

Three more plays and another Ventura punt gave Southwest the ball at the 50 and four plays later, Wallace threw a perfect touch pass to wide receiver Michael Stephens in the corner of the end zone.

Ventura (1-4, 1-3) which has had trouble in previous games after falling behind early, appeared to be on the ropes for another possible early knockout.

However, quarterback Matt Brimigion found speedy wide receiver Shawn Young streaking down the sideline for a 79-yard touchdown. Chris Pryor’s PAT put the Pirates back in contention, 12-7.

In the third quarter, Brimigion tossed a seven-yard touchdown to Young to give Ventura a 13-12 lead. Later in the quarter, Brimigion connected with running back Danny Taylor coming out of the backfield on a swing pass for an 11-yard touchdown that gave the Pirates a seemingly comfortable margin, 20-12.

Then Wallace threw touchdown passes of 22 yards to Brown and 37 yards to wide receiver Yki Vallery to propel Southwest back into the lead, 26-20.