With a bye week followed by a trip to two-time defending SoCal finalist Cerritos, November was never going to be easy for the Moorpark College football team.

After starting the season with 65 players, the 2-7 Raiders will travel south for the season finale Saturday with a hearty group of less than 40.

"In all honestly, I think the guys that are with the program have a lot of enthusiasm," coach Will Thurston said. "Everyone is rested up and ready."

Moorpark needs a win to avoid the fourth season in school history with less than three wins.

"Everybody is disappointed that we're at this point of the year, obviously," Thurston said. "Each and every one of us had a hope that we'd have a real positive season. The record obviously doesn't indicate it."

The Raiders have had two weeks to mull over the 21-20 loss to Canyons Oct. 27, when it failed to convert a game-tying extra point in the final seconds.

Thurston called the moment "uncharacteristic," considering special teams has been such a strength for the Raiders this fall.

The Ventura College women's soccer team (7-5) remains unranked. But the Pirates knocked off Fresno, ranked No. 4 in Northern California and No. 8 in the state, 1-0 Saturday on Daisy Cardona's goal.

Cardona, an All-American selection as a freshman, leads the WSC in both goals (10) and points (27).

Ventura's five losses are to No. 1 Cerritos, No. 2 Santiago Canyon, No. 3 Cypress, No. 6 Los Angeles Pierce and No. 8 Canyons, who are a combined 41-2-4.

The spring season has arrived. The Ventura and Moorpark colleges softball teams opened their seasons a combined 4-2 at the Glendale tournament last weekend.

The Ventura College tennis teams started its season Thursday at Cerritos.

"Everything's rolling," said Ventura athletic director Will Cowen.

The Moorpark College baseball team opens what may be its last season, due to budget cuts, today at the Bakersfield tournament.

The Oxnard College baseball team, ranked No. 20 in the Southern California preseason poll, opens at College of the Desert this morning. The Ventura College baseball team hosts No. 4 Palomar in its opener Saturday.

The Ventura College football team was ranked No. 25 in the final JCFootball.com national poll released Monday.

The Pirates finished 7-4, tied for second in the SCFA Northern Conference and beat College of the Desert, 17-16, in the SCFA Beach Bowl, sponsored by Joe Kapp Real Estate.

There were five other Southern California teams in the poll, including SCFA champion Mount San Antonio at No. 4, 11-0 Riverside at No. 5 and Northern Conference champion Cerritos at No. 13.

City College of San Francisco, which held off defending champion Mount SAC 52-42 for the state title Saturday, earned the No. 1 ranking and mythical national title.

Print coverage: Ventura County Star, Palm Desert Patch, Daily Breeze, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Chico Enterprise-Record, Napa Valley Register

November 19

Southern California Football Association

Semifinals

National Bowl
No. 6-South El Camino (8-2) at No. 1t-S Mt. San Antonio (9-1), 1 p.m.

Southern California Football Association Bowl
No. 4-S Cerritos College (7-3) at No. 3-S Palomar (7-3), 5 p.m.

Division championship games

Central Championship Bowl
No. 8-S Golden West (6-4) vs. No. 18-S Long Beach City (5-5) at Orange Coast College, 6 p.m.

American Championship Bowl
No. 16-S East Los Angeles (7-3) at No. 15-S Santa Monica (8-2), 1 p.m.

Bowls

Beach Bowl, sponsored by Joe Kapp Real Estate
No. 10-S College of the Desert (6-4) at No. 7-S Ventura (6-4), 6:30 p.m.

Golden State Bowl
No. 5-S Saddleback (8-2) at No. 1t-S Riverside (10-0), 6 p.m.

Western State Bowl
No. 11-S Los Angeles Harbor (7-3) at No. 8-S Hancock (6-4), 4 p.m.

Northern California Football Association

Bowls

Bothman Bulldog Bowl
No. 8-North Diablo Valley College (8-2) at No. 7-North College of San Mateo (7-3), 1 p.m.

Capital City Bowl
No. 5-N Chabot (9-1) at No. 3-N American River (10-0), 1 p.m.

Graffiti Bowl
No. 4-N Butte (9-1) at No. 6-N Modesto JC (8-2) , 1 p.m.

Living Breath Foundation Bowl
No. 14-N Solano (6-4) vs. No. 11-N Hartnell (7-3) at Cabrillo College, 1 p.m.

Sierra Central Credit Union Bowl
No. 12-N Monterey Peninsula (7-3) at No. 14-N Yuba (6-4), 1 p.m.

Togo's Delta Bowl
No. 10-N De Anza (7-3) at No. 9-N San Joaquin Delta (6-4) , 1 p.m.

November 26:

Regional championship games

Northern California Football Association Championship at Hawaiian Punch Bowl
No. 2-N Fresno City (10-0) at No. 1-N City College of San Francisco (10-0)

Southern California Football Association Championship at TBD

December 10:

California Community College Athletic Association Football State Championship at TBD

The Ventura College water polo teams were both seeded in the Southern California championships Sunday. Both will open the tournament in Thursday's quarterfinals at Riverside College.

The Ventura women (17-10), which won their fourth straight Western State Conference title Saturday, were seeded in No. 9 and will face No. 8 Cypress (14-11).

The Pirates dropped a tight 9-8 loss at Cypress on the opening day of the season, Aug. 27.

The Ventura men (13-13), which finished third in the WSC, earned the No. 10 and final seed and will take on No. 7 Cerritos (19-13).

Cypress, the South Coast Conference runner-up, is coached by former VC and Ventura High coach Joe Abing. Ventura and Cerritos have split eight meetings in Abing's six years with the Falcons.

"We're definitely the underdogs, but that should be fun," said Ventura coach Mark Schmidt.

Community College football
Cerritos 31, Ventura 24
SCFA Northern Conference
Cerritos 0 16 0 15 -- 31
Ventura 14 7 3 0 -- 24
First quarter

VC -- Smith 23 run (Luna kick), 8:36.
VC -- Koman 34 pass from Smith (Luna kick), 1:39.
Second quarter

CC -- Gray 1 run (Valencia kick), 13:17.
VC -- Burton 38 pass from Smith (Luna kick), 6:49.
CC -- Denker 9 run (kick failed), 3:06.
CC -- FG 21 Valencia, 0:01

Third quarter

VC -- FG 29 Luna, 9:49. 

Fourth quarter

CC -- Evans 19 pass from Denker (Evans pass from Denker), 11:10. 

CC -- Livingston 6 run (Valencia kick), 4:07.
Team stats CC VC
First downs 26 16
Rushes-Yards 46-260 36-150
Passing Yards 252 164
Comp-Att-Int 16-25-0 13-21-0
Punts-avg. 3-31.3 5-41.0
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 2-1
Penalties-Yards 11-102 8-81
Individual statistics
RUSHING: Cerritos -- Gray 18-105, Denker 11-76, Livingston 11-45, Bernard 6-45. Ventura -- Smith 9-55, Craver 10-48, Reed 10-32, Burton 3-14, Caro 2-4, Nixon 1-2, Team 1-(--5).
PASSING: Cerritos -- Denker 16-25-0-252. Ventura -- Smith 13-21-0-164
RECEIVING: Cerritos -- Evans 5-58, Manning 4-48, Abeyta 3-66, Lavula 2-42, Anderson 1-25, Gray 1-13. Ventura -- Burton 6-59, Koman 4-97, Vizzi 3-8.
RECORDS: Cerritos 3-3, 1-0; Ventura 3-3, 0-1.

Moorpark 31, Antelope Valley 24
SCFA Western Division
Antelope Valley 3 13 0 8 - 24
Moorpark 7 10 14 0 - 31
First Quarter
AVC - Steffes 18 FG, 8:12.
MC - Hutchins 42 pass from Owens (Ruhnke kick), 4:32.
Second Quarter
MC - Franklin 13 run (Ruhnke kick), 14:33.
AVC - Brown 3 run (Steffes kick), 12:11.
MC - FG Ruhnke 26, 7:32.
AVC - FG Steffes 22, 2:54.
AVC - FG Steffes 28, 0:10.
Third quarter
MC - Franklin 4 run (Ruhnke kick) 10:30
MC - Elmore 6 pass from Owens (Ruhnke kick) 3:55
Fourth quarter
AVC - Dison 11 run (Brown pass from Cooper), 9:45.
Team stats AVC MC
First Downs 20 26
Rushes-yards 35-178 43-208
Passing yards 239 263
Comp-Att-Int 20-32-0 18-32-0
Sacked-Yards lost 0-0 1-1
Fumbles-recovered 1-0 0-0
Punts-Avg. 7-39.7 6-39.3
Penalties 9-43 6-48
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Antelope Valley -- Dison 10-106, Brown 15-35, Francis 5-26, Steward 3-13, Buteyn 1-(--1). Moorpark -- Franklin 15-87, Robles 11-57, Hall 8-49, Jackson 4-21, Looney 1-1, Owens 4--(2).
PASSING: Antelope Valley -- Dison 20-32-0-239. Moorpark -- Owens 17-30-0-248, Stevens 1-2-0-15.
RECEIVING: Antelope Valle -- Clark 7-53, Evans 4-23, Culver 3-87, Tibbs 3-35, Stovall 2-18, Cooper 1-23. Moorpark -- Hutchins 5-82, Robinson 4-88, Looney 2-38, Franklin 2-28, Moe 2-12, Hanover 1-15, Elmore 1-6, West 1-(--6).
RECORDS: Moorpark 4-2, 1-0; Antelope Valley 2-4, 0-1.

Oxnard College men's soccer coach Ross Greaney should also check out the NSCAA preseason rankings.

The defending Western State Conference champion Condors will welcome three members of the national preseason Top 20 to Oxnard this fall -- No. 13 Santa Ana Sept. 9, No. 14 Cerritos Sept. 13 and No. 17 Santa Barbara City Oct. 21.

Oxnard was eliminated from the Southern California regional playoffs last November by No. 3 Mount San Antonio.

The final record is deceiving.

After three losses in its final four games, the Ventura College football team finished its season 5-5, tied for fourth place in the Northern Conference and will not be playing in a bowl this weekend.

Yet, considering the Pirates legitimately competed for a playoff berth against probably the toughest schedule in school history, it's difficult to nitpick Steve Mooshagian's first season as head coach.

"I thought it was s successful year because people didn't think we'd win two games," said Mooshagian. "I think we surprised almost everybody, including everyone in our league... We're two plays from being 7-3."

Eight of the 10 teams the Pirates played were ranked in the final coaches' poll Sunday and a ninth also received votes.

"A dozen kids are going to get scholarships out of those group," said Mooshagian. "I'm proud of what they accomplished."

Ventura performed well against two of the Southern California semifinalists, beating No. 3 Cerritos in Norwalk 28-21 on Oct. 16 and taking a two-touchdown lead into the fourth quarter at No. 4 Bakersfield Oct. 23, before falling in overtime 27-24.

"Our first two league games were against the two playoff teams and we should have won them both," said Mooshagian.

In fact, the Pirates were in all five of their losses. They were tied 27-27 with Fullerton with three minutes left in the third quarter, leading Chaffey 10-6 with three minutes to play, leading Bakersfield 24-10 with 11 minutes to play, tied 24-24 with Canyons entering the fourth quarter and trailing El Camino 35-31 entering the fourth quarter.

"The No. 1 thing is we didn't protect the football down the stretch, late in the fourth quarter," said Mooshagian. "A lot of it was just crazy bounces."

The season came undone in the fourth quarter, when Ventura outscored 63-7 in its five losses, which included backbreaking defensive touchdowns in its final three losses.

The 28-21 win over Cerritos Saturday was enough to make the pollsters sit up and take notice. The Ventura College football made its season debut in the JC Grid-wire national poll this week at No. 23

On week after winning at the then-No. 11-ranked team in the poll, the newly-minted No. 23-ranked Pirates (4-2) visit No. 7 Bakersfield (5-1) Saturday night.

Cerritos (4-2) slipped to No. 21 in the poll. Another Northern Conference team, Canyons, is ranked No. 20.

Click the jump for the full poll.

In the first meeting Tim Hyde held with his defense, the Ventura College football team's first-year defensive coordinator wrote "TFL" and "sacks" on the whiteboard.

"That's what your job is right now," Hyde told his new team, unleashing the Pirates' defensive front as a disruptive force.

Through six games, Ventura (4-2) has piled up 58 tackles for losses. Only Mount San Antonio (62) and San Francisco (60), the state's No. 1- and No. 2-ranked teams, can top that figure.

"We're bringing coach Hyde's philosophy to life," said Ventura defensive line coach Ted Lawrence. "He puts defensive linemen in position to be successful and that's what they're doing right now."

Especially in the past two games, when Ventura has put together resume-building wins over National Division opposition Pasadena City and Cerritos.

"Every single member of that group had a huge football player," said Lawrence of the group's performance in Saturday's win over Cerritos without tackle Charles Boyd and end Danny Miguel. "There were only six guys out there playing, but every one of them made a huge play."

The group calls itself "rushmen."

"Linemen play offense," said Lawrence.

The leader is 6-foot-3, 250-pound defensive end Jon Lattimore, who has had six sacks and 10.5 tackles of losses.

"Lattimore is obviously the most physical imposing of the group," said Lawrence. "He's the biggest, strongest and fastest guy."

Tackles Wayne Blackwell and Kalvin Cruz made stops in the fourth quarter goalline stand.

Freshman defensive end Daniel Miller, a Thousand Oaks High product nicknamed "Gunrack" "for his arsenal of pass-rushing moves," said Lawrence, has also come of age in recent weeks.

His strip sack of Cerritos quarterback Kane Wilson in the final seconds of the first half set up Antavius Sims' key touchdown pass on the final play of the half.

Ventura College defensive end Jon Lattimore was honored as Northern Conference defensive Player of the Week Tuesday.

Despite being matched up against Cerritos preseason All-American tackle Fou Fonoti, sophomore from Lexington, N.C. had five tackles, including three for losses, two sacks, a fumble recovery and four hurries in Saturday's 28-21 win at Cerritos.

Trailing by 7, the Falcons took over on the Pirates' 23 with 1:14 to play, but Lattimore spurred the turnover on downs with a pair of sacks, including one to seal the win on fourth down.

Beating the No. 4-ranked team in Southern California and No. 11-ranked team in the nation, according to JC Grid-wire, is one of the Pirates' biggest wins in recent memory.

"From my point of view, it was the biggest win in my 13 years at VC," said defensive line coach Ted Lawrence.

It moved Ventura up in both polls. The Pirates moved up seven spots in the Southern California poll to No. 7 and 11 spots in the state poll to No. 14.

Moorpark stayed steady at No. 17 in Southern California.

Click the jump for the full polls.

No. 13 Ventura (3-2) at No. 4 Cerritos (4-1)
Falcon Stadium, 7 p.m.
TWO WEEKS AGO: Ventura 33, Pasadena City 29; Saddleback 28, Cerritos 24.
SERIES HISTORY: Cerritos leads 3-0, including a 36-35 win last year at Ventura.
GAME FACTS: The line of scrimmage is the focus as the Pirates open the new-look Northern Conference. Featuring RB Daveon Barner (58 att., 436 yards, 4 TDs), Cerritos is No. 2 in SoCal in rush offense (247.2 ypg) and Ventura is No. 4 in rush defense (104.8 ypg). Featuring QB Antavius Sims, Ventura is No. 6 in rush offense (210.8 ypg) and Cerritos is No. 3 in rush defense (100.6 ypg). Sims (86-of-138 passing, 964 yards, 5 TDs) is No. 3 in SoCal in total offense (1,520 yards) and No. 6 in rushing (113 att., 556 yards, 6 TDs). RB Michael Davis (397 rush, 225 receiving, 330 returns) is No. 2 in all-purpose yardage.
Stay seated when Ventura kicks off, as Cerritos is No. 1 in kickoff returns (29.6 ypr). Ventura LBs Kenny Breaux and Brendan Daley are No. 5 (48) and No. 8 (46) in total tackles. Cerritos DB Keith McGill is No. 2 (4) in interceptions with a 65-yard TD return.

No. 17 Moorpark (3-2) at Antelope Valley (1-4)
Marauder Stadium, Lancaster, 6 p.m.
TWO WEEKS AGO: Moorpark 39, Compton 7; Antelope Valley 31, East L.A. 17.
SERIES HISTORY: Moorpark leads 6-2 dating back to 1968. The Raiders won the last meeting 33-19 in 1997.
GAME FACTS: Behind WR Chris Gant, who leads SoCal in receptions (44), receiving yards (634) and leads the state in touchdowns (10), Moorpark is No. 7 in pass offense (244.2 ypg). But perhaps the most surprising part of the Raiders' turnaround has been its defense, featuring LB Tim McAnany (41 tackles, 4.5 for loss), DE Connor Benado (27, 4.5) and DT DeAndre Robinson (20, 7.0). Having forced 20 takeaways, Moopark is No. 2 in turnover ratio (plus 8) and No. 9 against the run (116.8 ypg). Zach Shultis (81-of-141 passing, 904 yards, 7 TDs) or Dalton Botts (25-of-50 passing, 284 yards, 6 TDs) are still sharing the QB position. Antelope Valley is averaging only 13.2 points and 267.0 yards per game, but the Marauders are coming off their first win of the season. RB Ron Scott (64 att., 349 yards, 3 TDs) gives AVC a ground weapon and Isaiah culver is averaging 25.1 yards pre kickoff return.

His team may be preparing for one of its toughest non-conference games in recent memory, but Ventura College football coach Steve Mooshagian has been able to keep his sense of humor this week.

The Pirates (1-0) welcome Fullerton College, the No. 2-ranked team in the nation according to JC Grid-Wire and JCFootball.com, to the VC Sportsplex Saturday night.

"It looks like our game last year against Cerritos," said Mooshagian. "It seems like everybody is asking me, 'You're not going to go for two, are you?"

The Falcons, who reached the Southern California semifinals, escaped Ventura dramatically, 36-35, on Sept. 26 after former Ventura coach Jon Mack elected to attempt a two-point conversion with nine seconds left rather than send the game into overtime, despite a huge advantage in the kicking game.

Kicker Tyler Stampler, who is now at New Mexico State, kicked a school-record five field goals that night and had set the school record for longest field goal the previous week.

"That's last year," said Mooshagian. "We'll see what happens this year.

"It feels like we're playing ourselves... The team that makes the fewest mistakes, the team that competes for four quarters, the team that makes the fewest turnovers is going to win. It may come down to a special teams play."

Ventura College has hired Feather River College head coach Steve Mooshagian as its head football coach.

Mooshagian, 51, fills the void left by Jon Mack's January departure to Crespi Carmelite High.

"We're ecstatic to add a teacher and coach the caliber of coach Mooshigan to our staff," said Ventura athletic director Will Cowen. "It's well worth the wait."

Mooshagian brings to Ventura experience at virtually every level of the game.

"He has a vast array of coaching experience," said Ventura College athletic director Will Cowen. "I think it's important to have a leader who really understands what it takes to be successful at every level."

Mooshagian spent four years in the NFL as the Cincinnati Bengals wide receivers from 1999 to 2002, working with Chad (Johnson) Ochocinco, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Darnay Scott, Carl Pickens, and Peter Warrick.

He was an NCAA Division I-A offensive coordinator at Pittsburgh (1997-98) and Nevada (1996).

He was the head coach at Division I-AA Sacramento State for four years (2003-06) and the assistant head coach at the University of San Diego (2007-08), when the Toreros led NCAA Division I FCS in scoring (44.3 points per game).

"Good find, huh?" said longtime Ventura assistant coach Gary Anglin. "He's a very good fit for Ventura College."

Mooshagian's resume also includes one other stint as a California community college head coach (Fresno City, 1995) and two years at Washington Union High in Fresno (1983-84),

In between, he spent 10 years on the staff at Fresno State, where he coached 10 NFL receivers during a stretch when the Bulldogs won six conference titles and played in six bowl games.

"You never stop learning," said Mooshagian. "I've picked things up along the way, I think I've been very blessed to have learned from a lot of people."

Feather River was 5-5 last fall in Mooshagian's first season last fall, falling 27-26 to Mendocino in the final game with the Mid-Empire Conference title on the line and finishing the season ranked No. 15 in Northern California. All 22 sophomores transferred to four-year schools.

The son of Ray Mooshagian, who spent 31 years as a high school coach in the Los Angeles area, Mooshagian played wide receiver at Downey High, Cerritos College (1978-79) and Fresno State (1980-81) and signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Express of the USFL (1983).

On the fourth day of basketball, fatigue usually sets in but not for the experienced crew working the scorer's table.

Cerritos Sports Information Director John Van Gaston in the media room during warmups, "Let's play four more."

The Oxnard College men's soccer team played quite a schedule this fall.

It turns out that the Condors faced the final five teams left in the Southern California regional playoffs.

"They beat us up a little, but it was a great eye opener on how college teams should function," said Oxnard coach Ross Greaney.

Oxnard opened its season with losses to No. 3 Cerritos and No. 2 Mount San Antonio, who played each other a year ago in the state final. Saturday, they play for a state Final Four berth.

Oxnard drew with No. 1 Rio Hondo 4-4 on Sept. 8 -- meaning the Condors opened their season against what would become the Top 3 seeds in the Southern California regional playoffs -- and beat No. 4 Santa Ana 5-1 on Sept. 22.

The regional semifinal between Rio Hondo and No. 8 Canyons, which swept Oxnard in WSC play, was postponed until Wednesday, when COC beat the top seed 4-2 to earn a regional final trip to Santa Ana.

Earning its second bowl berth in three seasons, the Ventura College football team (7-3) will play Golden West (6-4) in the Orange County Bowl.

Kickoff at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa is Saturday night at 5.

"It's a huge accomplishment for these guys," said Ventura coach Jon Mack. "We're excited. It's a great reward for a great season."

The Pirates were proud of a solid third-place finish in the difficult Northern Conference and were back to work Sunday, 12 hours after beating rival Moorpark in consecutive seasons for the first time in 23 years.

"We're flexing," said Mack. "We lost three games to three 9-1 teams."

All three of Ventura's losses came against Top 5 seeds in the Southern California regional playoffs. The Pirates finished tied for No. 9 in the final Southern California coaches' poll.

Golden West finished 6-1 in the American Division's Mountain Conference. It was kept out of the playoffs by a 35-32 loss to Los Angeles Harbor on Sept. 26.

The postseason pairings are No. 8 Los Angeles Pierce (7-3) at No. 1 Mount San Antonio (9-1), No. 5 Hancock (9-1) at No. 4 Bakersfield (9-1), No. 7 L.A. Harbor (9-1) at No. 2 Fullerton (9-1) and No. 6 Palomar (8-2) at No. 3 Cerritos (9-1).

The Southern California champion advances to play the winner of the Nov. 21 Northern California title game between San Mateo (9-1) and Reedley (6-4) in the Dec. 12 state championship game.

The postseason structure put in place during the Southern California Football Association's creation in 2008 includes berths for the three Northern Division conference champions (Mount SAC, Fullerton and Bakersfield), three Northern Division conference runners up (Cerritos, Hancock and Palomar) and the two conference champions from the lesser American Division (L.A. Harbor and L.A. Pierce).

In the other two non-playoff bowl, Saddleback (8-2) will play College of the Canyons (6-4) in the Western State Bowl and El Camino (8-2) will play Grossmont (7-3) in the Beach Bowl.

Making its first bowl appearance in eight years, Ventura scored 15 points during a three-minute span in the fourth quarter to upend host Palomar, 39-35, and confirm a 8-3 season in the 2007 Southern California Bowl.

Ventura College football coach Jon Mack may take a different path this weekend.

After VC had driven the length of the field with 69 seconds to play last Saturday, Mack decided to attempt a game-winning, two-point conversion instead of forcing overtime following Antavius Sims' 9-yard scoring strike to Nick Karam with nine seconds to play in the Pirates' 36-35 loss to Cerritos.

Mack said this week that he had no regrets about going for the win, but hinted that he may not make the same choice if a similar option were presented this weekend.

"We had a chance to win it right there and we wanted to get it done," said Mack.

"If it was a conference game it might have been different. Every game is critical now."

Sims' conversion run was stopped short.

"There were a few options in it," said Mack. "It was no one's fault. We just we wish we had another shot at it."

Ventura sophomore defensive back Travaun Nixon, who had three interceptions Saturday, said he supported Mack's decision.

"I was cool with it," said Nixon, who leads the state with six interceptions in four games.
"I thought we were going to make it. Everyone would have loved it if we made it. I believe in our offense."