Moorpark Lives Up to Reputation in Rout of Pierce

“I think they’re good,” Pierce College Coach Bill Norton said.

Sure, but how good?

He paused, gathering his thoughts. Only minutes earlier Moorpark had completed a 37-7 romp over his team in a Western State Conference football game.

“Well,” he said, finally. “I’ll tell ya this. They’re a helluva lot better than Ventura.”

That was plainly, and painfully, obvious.

A week after rushing for 348 yards and scoring 42 points against Ventura, Pierce found the going much tougher at Moorpark.

Take away a 59-yard touchdown sprint by Dan Reynolds on Pierce’s second play from scrimmage and the Brahmas were shut out with only 181 yards--47 rushing--against a Raider defense that was as good as advertised.

Moorpark (4-0, 3-0) came into the game rated fourth among state junior colleges in team defense. Against Pierce (2-2, 1-2), the Raiders forced five turnovers--four interceptions and a fumble.

Cesar Parra, Pierce’s starting quarterback, followed a three-touchdown performance against Ventura by throwing three interceptions against Moorpark. His backup, David Erhardt, threw the other on the final play.

Andy Lambert got the final interception on a pass over the middle, punctuating an appropriate end.

Conversely, the game started with a bit of false advertising.

On the game’s first play from scrimmage, Moorpark receiver Ryan Kieling hauled in a 69-yard touchdown bomb from Corey Tucker.

Pierce got the ball back on its 23. On the Brahmas’ first play, Parra connected with Dan Alexander on an 18-yard pass. Then Reynolds took a pitch to the right, cut upfield and rambled the rest of the way untouched.

But thereafter, moving the ball became an uphill battle for Pierce.

Reynolds gained more then seven yards on only one of his final 12 carries as the Brahma running attack, so dominant in routing Ventura a week earlier, ground to a halt.

Pierce had 106 yards rushing. Subtract Reynolds’ scoring play and the Brahmas gained 47 yards in 28 carries. Of course, that included four sacks by the Raiders for losses totaling 21 yards.

Parra completed nine of 15 passes, but most of those were quick outs to his wide receivers. The times he looked downfield more than a few yards resulted in incomplete passes and interceptions.

Meanwhile, Moorpark had a field day, reaching a season-high for points.

Alex Estrada, the Raiders’ big-play receiver, was sidelined with a sprained ankle. So Kieling stepped in to catch three passes for 120 yards, including two for touchdowns.

His bomb from Tucker opening the game was simple and planned. He ran a post pattern, sprinting almost straight up the field. “I knew we were throwing up top the first play,” he said. “We noticed on film that their safety sneaks up, especially at the beginning of the game when they expected us to run.”

Kieling’s second scoring reception came on a 42-yard strike from Tucker that put the Raiders ahead, 31-7, with 13 minutes 56 seconds to play.