Ventura Comeback Falls Short : Channel League: Santa Barbara prevails, 31-23, with the Cougars a foot from the goal line.

Ventura High’s bid for first place in the Channel League football race came down to a matter of two feet Friday night in a 31-23 loss to Santa Barbara.

One foot was the space between Devon Passno and the goal line on the game’s final play. The other foot was the one Santa Barbara kicker Sandro Preciado used to hit a key second-quarter field goal and four extra points.

Passno rushed for 186 yards and a 79-yard touchdown, but he will probably remember more vividly the final yard he could not gain. With nine seconds left, Passno bulled from the Santa Barbara one to within a foot of the goal before being pushed back. Out of timeouts, the Cougars watched the final seconds tick away.

Santa Barbara (7-0, 4-0 in league play) rallied from a 23-17 deficit with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. The Dons scored on a 10-yard pass from Dustin Spencer to Torlando Bolden with 10 minutes 40 seconds to play and on a 10-yard Spencer run with 1:35 remaining.

But that was enough time for the Cougars (5-2, 2-2) to have one more opportunity to tie. Passno, who had lost two fumbles earlier, keyed a 60-yard march with a 22-yard run, and a 15-yard face-mask penalty on the Dons advanced the ball to the Santa Barbara 14.

With 29 seconds remaining, Passno blasted to the four and then to the one before being stopped on the final play.

Spencer (eight of 14 passing for 132 yards) had tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Chris Nelson in the second quarter before Passno’s 79-yard touchdown sprint brought Ventura within two points, 14-12.

Preciado made the score 17-12 at halftime when his partially blocked 28-yard field-goal attempt hit the crossbar and bounced over, but Ventura took the lead when Mike Ellis (seven carries, 91 yards rushing) raced 60 yards for a third-quarter touchdown.

Ray Walker piled up 97 yards rushing for the Dons in 26 carries and Bolden had five receptions for 71 yards.