Slow start dooms Pirates in Beach Bowl loss to Ventura

VENTURA -- The Orange Coast College football team put forth a tremendous effort, but a barrage of early offense by the Ventura College Pirates was too much to overcome in a 53-39 loss at the 2015 Beach Bowl on Saturday night at Ventura College.

The OCC Pirates (7-4), much like most of the other teams the VC Pirates faced in 2015, simply had few answers for the various offensive weapons that were on display for the hosts, who racked up 680 yards of total offense (343 passing, 297 rushing). 

Ventura (8-3) was led by quarterback (and Beach Bowl MVP) Ty Gangi, who threw for 329 yards and four touchdowns on 25-of-38 passing and also rushed for 83 yards on five carries. Running back (and VC Player of the Game) Chris Beeson rushed for 146 yards and two touchdowns, while Cam Taylor caught six passes for 67 yards and two TDs.

Coast had plenty of offensive stars too, including running back (and OCC Player of the Game) Kyle White, who plowed through the VC defense to the tune of 179 rushing yards and a touchdown on 25 carries. Ventura's defense managed to limit the success of quarterback Mason Dossey, but the sophomore standout still threw for 272 yards and two TDs on 19-of-40 passing, with WR Stefan Derrick capping off a stellar sophomore season with eight catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns.

Ventura had the ball on the game's opening possession and wasted no time, marching down the field in eight plays, capping off the 75-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown completion from Gangi to Riley Smith, putting the host Pirates up 7-0.

After Coast's opening drive stalled near midfield, a blocked punt by Malcolm Williams give the VC Pirates the ball on the Ventura 42-yard line and just five plays later, a 4-yard Beeson touchdown run gave the hosts a 13-0 lead after the PAT attempt was blocked by Coast.

Once again, OCC was forced to punt and Ventura added more points, courtesy of a 27-yard field goal by Jake Lanski, putting VC up, 16-0 before the end of the opening quarter.

On the verge of being blown out, Coast regrouped and pounded the ball down the field, using White as its battering ram. The sophomore accounted for 53 yards on OCC's eight-play, 75-yard scoring drive before Ian Pogue plowed in from a yard out, putting Coast on the scoreboard and trailing, 16-7, three plays into the second quarter.

On Ventura's fourth possession, the hosts again found the end zone to make it 23-7. In fact, the host Pirates scored points on eight of its first 10 possessions, keeping the guests at bay throughout the game. Despite that, Coast would give up and kept within shouting distance.

Trailing 33-17 at the half, Coast had the ball to start the third quarter and an opportunity to get things close, but Ventura could not be stopped and opened up a 50-24 lead before Coast outscored Ventura 15-3 in the closing quarter to get back into the contest. Derrick, who snagged a 74-yard touchdown earlier in the game, pulled in a 9-yard TD grab and later, White plowed in from 3-yards out to make it 53-39.

An onside kick attempt by the Pirates was recovered by Ventura, but OCC forced a fumble was recovered by Brandon Worthy, giving Coast the ball with 3:42 left. But the Ventura defense came up big when it had to and with the help of a costly illegal block on a first-down run, Coast was forced to punt the ball away, sealing the fate of the game.

Both teams struggled with penalties ... a combined 23 infractions for 247 yards.

As expected in a game this offensively dominated, several new postseason records were set for Coast. In addition, several other season-long marks were topped as a result of this year's continued success.

• Kyle White -- 25 carries (new postseason record)
• Darrel Watts -- 39-yard kickoff return (new postseason record)
• Mason Dossey -- 2,457 passing yards (No. 2 all time for one season in school history)
• Stefan Derrick -- 65 receptions for 1,161 yards, 16 TDs (all three are No. 2 all time for one season)
• Kyle White -- 1,280 career rushing yards (No. 9 all time in school history)
• Mason Dossey -- 2,580 total yards (Most all time for one season in school history)
• Stefan Derrick -- 98 points scored (No. 7 all time for one season in school history)
• Dan Bjurman -- 9 field goals made (T-8th all time for one season in school history)

GAME NOTES -- This was the first-ever meeting between Ventura and Orange Coast in ANY type of football game ... the win snapped a three-game bowl losing streak for Ventura, while the loss extends OCC's bowl losing streak to four (5-10 all time in playoff and bowl contests) ... Coast's last bowl win: 1993 Orange County Bowl (a 26-14 win over Antelope Valley).