Santa Barbara City College football kept it close early but struggled in the second half in a 34-10 loss to Ventura College at La Playa Stadium on Saturday night.
With the loss, the Vaqueros dropped to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in conference play. They will head into the bye week before hosting Antelope Valley on Saturday, Oct. 19.
The Pirates started hot, forcing a stop on defense and putting together a scoring drive immediately that was capped off by a 5-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Duran to Jayon Farrar.
The rest of the first quarter was defined by defensive stops, resulting in a 7-0 Ventura lead heading into the second.
However, the Vaqueros then went on a methodical 20-play drive that ended in a 37-yard field goal by Jackson Smith to cut the deficit to 7-3.
The Pirates answered with an 80-play drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown run by Jake Murphy to go up 14-3 at halftime.
SBCC found some momentum early in the second half, forcing a stop and marching down the field before Will Doherty connected with Tyreke Fortney for a 34-yard touchdown to bring the score to 14-10.
However, the Pirates dominated the game from there, outscoring the Vaqueros 20-0 in the final quarter and a half of play to pull out the 34-10 win.
In the home stretch, Ventura scored on a 32-yard touchdown catch by Jayon Farra, a 61-yard bomb touchdown to Silas Kemp and a 42-yard pick-six by Brayden Beck.
Duran was dominant under center for the Pirates, throwing for 312 yards and three touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Santa Barbara native and Bishop Diego alum Quran Gossett rushed for 91 yards as Ventura’s lead running back.