Bakersfield Comes Alive to Burst Ventura’s Bubble, 27-7

Jermaine Ervin rushed for 84 yards and two touchdowns to lead Bakersfield College to a 27-7 upset of previously unbeaten Ventura in a Western State Conference Northern Division game Saturday night at Ventura High.

The Pirates (5-1, 1-1 in WSC play), ranked 11th in the state, were forced to punt six times and quarterbacks Brian Shubin and Brian Rucker were sacked eight times for minus-44 yards.

Bakersfield (3-2, 1-0) held Ventura’s 1,000-yard rusher, Travis Rogers, to 70 yards in 17 carries.

“This is the first game we’ve played well on both sides of the ball,” Bakersfield Coach Dallas Grider said. “We finally put it all together and I think the key was stopping their running game.”

Ventura drove 74 yards in 13 plays to take a 7-3 lead in the second quarter, capped by Rogers’ one-yard run. Shubin set up the scoring play with a 30-yard bootleg.

Bakersfield regained the lead, 10-7, when Ervin completed an 18-play, 75-yard drive with a one-yard run. The score was set up by a 34-yard pass from Jeff Dover to Greg Chapman on a fake punt.

The Renegades then added to their lead when Elton Seals intercepted a pass by Shubin and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown and a 17-7 lead 20 seconds before halftime.

Shubin completed only four of nine passes for 33 yards and was replaced in the second half by Rucker, who completed five of six for 71 yards.

Dave Bennett added 80 yards in 17 carries for Bakersfield and Justin Ranier rushed 11 times for 50 yards.