Football: Ventura overtakes OCC

VENTURA — With its first bowl appearance since 2006 and only its second seven-win season in 22 years, the Orange Coast College football team chased down and overtook the mediocrity that had plagued the program for more than a dozen years.

But Ventura College proved much too difficult to keep up with Saturday, as the host Northern Conference co-champions raced past OCC, 53-39, in the Beach Bowl at Ventura College.

Ventura, which after the regular season ranked No. 1 in the state in first downs, No. 2 in yards per game and No. 3 in passing yards per contest, scored on 10 of its first 13 possessions to end a three-year losing streak in bowl games. And one of those “stops” was a one-play kneel-down before halftime.

After Ventura took a 16-0 lead in the first quarter, OCC basically traded blows with the explosive hosts. And OCC had the ball with 3:42 left needing a pair of touchdowns to erase a 14-point deficit.

But the Southern Conference runner-up, ranked No. 12 in the state after the regular season, couldn’t get any more out of an offense that held up its end.

Sophomore tailback Kyle White gained 179 yards on 25 rushing attempts, including his team’s final touchdown, to earn OCC Player of the Game recognition.

OCC sophomore quarterback Mason Dossey threw for 273 yards and two touchdowns, while sophomore receiver Stefan Derrick had eight receptions for 145 yards and one touchdown to help the visitors match Ventura’s 27 first downs.

Dossey finishes 2015 with a school single-season record 202 completions. His 2,457 passing yards this season rank third in OCC annals, just 67 shy of the record, and he finished with 20 touchdown passes.

Derrick finishes with 65 catches for 1,161 yards and 16 receiving touchdowns, leaving him just shy of school single-season records in each category. He was three receptions shy of tying the No. 1 spot, 29 yards short of the one-year best, and one touchdown shy of matching the single-season standard.

Coming up short was a theme for the visitors on Saturday, as they wind up 7-4.

Ventura, ranked No. 10 in the state in the final regular-season poll, finished 8-3 after its fifth straight bowl appearance.

The hosts amassed 640 yards of total offense, 158 more than OCC.

“It was tough to keep up with them,” OCC second-year coach Kevin Emerson said. “[Ventura] has one of the top offenses in the state and they proved it tonight. We played our butts off and I’m proud of our guys.”

OCC would have gotten closer, had it not had four passes go off receivers’ hands in the end zone, three of which were dropped and one was a valiant diving effort. Two would-be touchdown catches forced the Pirates to eventually settle for Dan Bjurman field goals, which didn’t help their perpetual pursuit of the hosts’ productivity.

Ventura continuously struck quickly. The average time of possession on its 10 scoring possessions was just more than two minutes, 21 seconds.

Ventura freshman quarterback Ty Gangi captured MVP honors by completing 25 of 38 passes for 328 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for 89 yards on just five carries.

Sophomore running back Chris Beeson was Ventura’s Player of the Game. He rushed for 148 yards and two touchdowns on 16 attempts and also caught six passes for 67 yards.

Derrick had the game’s biggest play, fielding a Dossey pass near midfield along the sideline and sprinting untouched into the end zone for a 74-yard touchdown early in the second quarter.

OCC sophomore middle linebacker Mark Cushing had a game-best nine tackles, while freshman safety Brandon Worthy recovered a pair of fumbles to help OCC win the turnover battle, 2-1.

But Ventura recovered an onside kick and also a muffed kickoff reception, the latter leading to a touchdown.

Ventura punted just twice, while OCC punted six times.

Ventura had 12 of the game’s 23 penalties for 134 of the combined 247 yards in infractions.

The 53 points were the most allowed by OCC all season and the most it had allowed in 14 bowl games.

Ventura, which came in averaging 42.7 points per game, topped the 50-point plateau for the fifth time this season.

“Their offense is great and they know how to play and move the ball around the field and spread everyone out,” said White, who surpassed the 100-yard mark for only the second time this season.

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Ventura 53, Orange Coast 39

SCORE BY QUARTERS

OCC 0 17 7 15 – 39

Ventura 16 17 17 3 – 53

FIRST QUARTER

Ven – Smith 4 pass from Gangi (Lanski kick), 12:48.

Ven – Beeson 4 run (kick blocked), 7:35.

Ven – Lanski 27 FG), 2:06.

SECOND QUARTER

OCC – Pogue 1 run (Bjurman kick), 14:03.

Ven – Pride 19 pass from Gangi (Lanski kick), 11:32.

OCC – Derrick 74 pass from Dossey (Bjurman kick), 10:41.

OCC – Bjurman 27 FG, 9:37.

Ven – Lanski 32 FG, 5:46.

Ven – Taylor 5 pass from Gangi (Lanski kick), 2:19.

THIRD QUARTER

Ven – Taylor 3 pass from Gangi (Lanski kick), 9:53.

OCC – Dossey 1 run (Bjurman kick), 4:13.

Ven – Beeson 10 run (Lanski kick), 2:30.

Ven – Lanski 29 FG, 1:17.

FOURTH QUARTER

OCC – Derrick 9 pass from Dossey (Bjurman kick), 13:32.

Ven – Lanski 45 FG, 12:10.

Ven – Beeson 10 run pass from Gangi (Lanski kick), 1:55.

OCC – White 3 run (White pass from Dossey), 3:50.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

OCC – White, 25-179, 1 TD.

Ven – Beeson, 16-148, 2 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

OCC – Dossey, 19-40-0, 272, 2 TDs.

Ven – Gangi, 25-38-0, 328, 4 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

OCC – Derrick, 8-145, 2 TDs.

Ven – Taylor, 6-67, 2 TDs; Beeson, 6-67.