Dos Pueblos Shut Out by Ventura in Homecoming Game

In a match-up between former Channel League members Dos Pueblos and Ventura, the host Chargers fell short, 33-0, on homecoming.

Ventura was able to lean on junior quarterback Derek Garcia to air it out on a struggling Dos Pueblos secondary, throwing for 297 yards and four touchdowns. 

The Cougars got off to a fast start. Dos Pueblos often opts to squib kick on kickoffs and paid the price immediately. Freshman Tristan Savage of Ventura returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. The point after was no good, making the score 6-0. 

On the ensuing kickoff attempt, Ventura surprisingly called an on-side kick and was able to recover the ball. Dos Pueblos was able to negate any momentum from Ventura with stout defense and some fortunate miscues by Ventura’s offense. 

Last week, Dos Pueblos had success on the ground, leaning heavily on senior running back Kaleb Williams, but couldn’t get much going rushing the ball against the Cougars. Ventura made sure to stack the box early, not allowing the Chargers’ offense to amount to much. 

Ventura did have some early game struggles with unforced penalties and some dropped passes but managed to keep their offensive drive going through the air. The first quarter wrapped up with a 36-yard touchdown pass perfectly dropped in the bucket by Garcia to Noah Maass, to make the score 12-0. 

The Chargers again stuck to their run game on their next drive, but couldn’t adjust to the Ventura defense. 

On the ensuing Ventura possession, Garcia was able to roll to his right and find Jack Cunningham for a long 84-yard touchdown pass to put Ventura up 19-0 with 11:36 still left in the second quarter. 

Another Ventura on-side kick attempt on the kickoff was recovered by the Chargers, giving them some of their best field position of the night at their own 45-yard line. Junior quarterback Dalton Schultz was able to move the ball down to the Ventura 22-yard line with his legs, but the Ventura defense was able to stop the Chargers on a fourth down to end the threat. 

Ventura’s next possession ended with another passing touchdown on a fourth-down play to make the score 26-0 at halftime. 

The next half featured some spirited defense by the Chargers, as they surrendered just one touchdown to Ventura in the third quarter, which were also the last points of the game, making the final score 33-0. 

Ventura faces off against a strong Newbury Park team next week. Dos Pueblos will have time to game-plan after the loss, as they’ll take on Hueneme on October 4 after a bye week.