Muir’s Passing Leads Pierce to 34-30 Win Over Ventura

The Pierce College football team has yet to prove it can run the ball or stop its opponents from running it.

But when you can throw the football like the Brahmas, you can make up for a lot of deficiencies--which is exactly what they did Saturday night in a 34-30 victory over Ventura in a Western State Conference Northern Division game.

Pierce (2-6, 2-5 in the conference) rushed for only 56 yards--10 below its season average--and gave up 319. But Pierce quarterback Dave Muir completed 25 of 43 passes for 292 yards and tossed a pair of first-half touchdowns to Rodney Williams as the Brahmas improved to 1-2 in division play.

Williams, who returned the second-half kickoff 79 yards for a touchdown to give Pierce a lead (21-17) it wouldn’t relinquish, caught scoring passes of 69 and 14 yards and finished with seven receptions for 132 yards.

Ventura quarterback Jason Brown completed 10 of 16 passes for 99 yards, but threw three interceptions, including one that linebacker Ben Fields returned 26 yards for a touchdown in Pierce’s 17-point third-quarter explosion.

Ventura running back Ivan McCrae rushed for 153 yards in 15 carries and scored on a 78-yard run early in the fourth period that pulled the Pirates to within seven at 31-24.

John Patton added 121 yards in 18 carries for Ventura, which amassed 418 yards against the 12th-rated Brahma defense.

But Brown tossed an interception to Ron McKelvey in the final minute to end the Pirates’ threat.