Ventura Holds On in the Wind

With swirling winds wreaking havoc throughout, play was downright ugly at times during Ventura College’s football game Saturday at Compton.

The passing statistics for both teams took a beating, and it was a game probably nobody will want to commit to memory.

But there was one significant bright spot for Ventura: The Pirates withstood a late Compton rally to hold on for a 23-16 Western State Conference interdivisional victory.

That didn’t stop Ventura Coach George Rosales from lecturing his team after the game.

“We weren’t consistent at all,” Rosales said. “We did some real stupid things. We just didn’t play well. But we won and that’s the most important thing.”

Barely. Compton (3-2, 2-2) drove 51 yards in slightly more than a minute and reached the Ventura 17-yard line with 11 seconds remaining. Quarterback Jimmy Perry scrambled for an apparent touchdown on the next play, but it was called back because of a holding penalty. Perry then tried a desperation pass into the end zone that fell short as time expired.

Ventura (4-1, 3-0) led the entire game, including 23-10 at halftime.

John Patton, who rushed for 142 yards and a touchdown in 10 carries, sat out the second half because Rosales said he violated an undisclosed team rule.