They broke records and broke open games. They became two of the most effective offensive players in their schools' history.

Then they moved on.

It will not be easy for the Ventura College and Moorpark College football teams to replace Antavius Sims and Chris Gant, respectively, this fall.

It's no wonder that both schools seem to be reinventing the position within their systems this month.

Sims set school records for single-season (2,960 yards) and career total offense (4,866), and also finished his two-year career second all-time in scoring (25 touchdowns), passing (3,273), touchdown passes (24) and rushing touchdowns (25).

Ventura coach Steve Mooshagian has turned to a pair of quarterbacks to replace the Washington recruit, former Fresno State quarterback Ebahn Feathers and former University of Charleston quarterback Matt Koman, but neither will be asked to carry the type of load Sims bore for the Pirates over the past two seasons.

"I'm going to use them both," said Mooshagian. "Both are good kids. I just want them to be products of the system. I'm not going to ask them to do all the things that Tay did. If they play within the system, they'll be fine."

Feathers, a dual threat from Washington Union High, completed 2-of-3 passing for 7 yards and a touchdown and ran 11 times for 57 yards and a touchdown for the Bulldogs in 2009.

Playing under Mooshagian at Feather River College in 2009, Koman completed 33-of-67 passing for 540 yards and four touchdowns in four games before suffering an ankle injury.

"I want them to be able to manage a game, not try to win it themselves, and utilize the talent around them," said Mooshagian, who will continue to call the plays and coach the quarterbacks this fall, despite ceding the offensive coordinator label to assistant Jason Bendinelli.

Despite lining up on the periphery before each play, Gant was every bit the impact player for the Raiders that Sims was for the Pirates.

The Hawaii recruit set school records for receptions in a game (17), season (81) and career (145), as well as career receiving yardage (1,945).

"Chris was an unusual guy," said Moorpark coach Jim Bittner. "He was a guy that could catch the ball whether he was doubled or tripled covered.

"He came back after that losing season (in 2009) and he made a commitment to his teammates. You have to give the guy credit. He did a great job for us and they did
everything they could to stop him, but he pretty much had his way with everybody."

Having also lost Dominick Markham, who excelled in the last month of the season, the Moorpark receiving corps will be a completely new group this fall.

"Our wide receivers are a bunch of no names right now," said Bittner. "We don't have a guy that we can say 'This is our guy.' "

It remains to be seen if there's a player on the roster who can be that lead target, although preseason standouts include Moorpark High graduate Cheldon West and Taft High product Donnel Robinson.

The new group received Gant's stamp of approval during spring practice.

"When he was out here in the spring, Chris said 'I wish I was coming back. You have
better receivers than when I was here,' " said Bittner. "I said, 'What they hell are you looking at?' "

Three county stars have been named to this year's All-California teams by the California Community College Football Coaches Association.

Ventura College running back Michael Davis and defensive end Jon Lattimore were named Region IV first-team All-California.

Davis, a Buena High product, was selected as an all-purpose performer after piling up 1,658 yards in all-purpose yardage as a sophomore. Lattimore was fourth in Southern California with nine sacks.

Moorpark College receiver Chris Gant was named Region V first-team All-California.
Gant led Southern California with 81 catches for 1,134 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Oahu is known as Hawaii's "Gathering place."

Fittingly, it is where some of the biggest names in county community college football will be gathering next fall to play for the University of Hawaii.

Ventura College star linebacker Brenden Daley committed to the Warriors Sunday while on an official visit to the Honolulu school.

"I get out here in May," said Daley. "I'm going to be representing for the Mainlanders... Oh man, I'm excited to win over this crowd."

The 6-foot-4, 255-pound Moorpark High product, who had 100 tackles, 15.5 tackles for a loss and seven sacks for the Pirates as a sophomore, joins Moorpark College's record-breaking receiver Chris Gant, who committed to Hawaii earlier this month.

Daley's VC teammate, defensive end Jon Lattimore, who had 15.5 tackles for a loss and nine sacks as a sophomore, is also considering Hawaii.

"Hopefully, Latt will come here, too," said Daley.

Daley said he is poised to fill a void at middle linebacker for the Warriors.

"I'm coming into a perfect situation," said Daley.

The hyper-kinetic linebacker thereby declared his recruiting closed. He was being pursued by a list of schools that included Washington and Cincinnati.

"This is it," said Daley. "I'm happy here. I gave them my word and I'm going to stand by it. I'm ready to rock."

Chris Gant had never been to Hawaii.

Having taken a recruiting trip to Oahu last weekend, he decided he could get used to it.

"They were really welcoming," said Gant. "I felt like I could have a home away from home there."

Moorpark College's star receiver verbally committed to play for the University of Hawaii Friday, less than three weeks after completing his Raiders' career with nearly every single-game, single-season and career receiving record in school history.

"It's very exciting," said Gant. "They put up a lot of points. I like the offense. The quarterback (Bryant Moniz) seemed like a calm, collected guy."

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Friday that Gant will compete for a role in the slot, as Hawaii is losing starters Greg Salas and Kealoha Pilares after the Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl.

Although Gant said the decision was about chemistry.

"They're a really close team," said Gant. "For me to go outside of California, to go far from home, it would have to be like that."

With 81 receptions for 1,134 yards and 17 touchdowns, Gant led Southern California in receptions, receiving yardage and touchdowns per game.

He broke Isaiah Mustafa's 16-year-old single-season school records for receptions (66) and receiving yardage (1,086). His career numbers, 145 catches for 1,945 yards and 33 scores, eclipsed Dan Russell's 26-year-old school records midway though this
season.

His 17-catch, 238-yard performance in the 24-21 win at Chaffey Oct. 30 extended his own school record for receptions in a game and was 12 yards short of Curtis Marsh's 250-yard performance against Ventura in 1991.

Although he will attend Moorpark in the spring, he completed the final official team function with the season-ending banquet earlier this month.

"I'm going to miss it," said Gant of Moorpark. "It was a big transition to go from 0-10 to a good season like this. The last two games weren't my best games, but it was nice to win a bowl game."

Moorpark finished 7-4 with a 21-14 win at Chaffey in the Western State Bowl.

Click here for today's feature on Moorpark College star receiver Chris Gant.

Moorpark College star receiver Chris Gant continues to astound on a weekly basis.

Despite suffering from an abscessed tooth, the sophomore broke his own school record with 17 receptions for 238 yards and all three Raiders touchdowns Saturday, including the game-winner on fourth down with 33 seconds to play.

"They were double-covering him, sometimes triple covering him, and he was still able to get the ball," said quarterback Zach Shultis. "When you see him go up with a cornerback, you know he's the one who will come down with the ball."

All three scores were highlight-reel material, but his best catch of the night probably came nine plays before the game-winning score. On third-and-10 from the Moorpark 47, Gant somehow made a sprawling catch on his backside to keep the drive alive.

"That was an absolutely phenomenal catch," said Shultis. "I put it a little bit too far outside, I still don't know how he was able to sprawl out and get that ball... He's just been unreal."

As a sophomore, Gant now has 72 catches for 1,041 yards and 16 touchdowns. All three figures lead the state.

The single-season reception figure is a school record, breaking the mark set by Isaiah Mustafa in 1994, and the yardage mark is 45 yards short of Mustafa's record.

He now has 136 catches for 1,852 yards and 32 touchdowns on his career. The reception and yardage figures have bettered the 25-year-old school records set by Dan Russell in 1984-85 (100 rec., 1,729 yards).

Saturday's 17-catch, 238-yard performance broke Gant's own school record of 16 set Sept. 22 against Hancock and was 12 yards short of Curtis Marsh's 250-yard performance set in 1991 against Ventura.

Chris Gant, Moorpark College's star sophomore receiver, is threatening most of the receiving section of the Raiders' record book.

The sophomore from Alemany, who caught 64 passes for 811 yards and 16 touchdowns as a freshman, continues to lead Southern California in receptions (55), receiving yardage (803) and touchdowns (13).

His 16 catches against Hancock Sept. 18 set the single-game school record. He set the school's career receptions mark with his 101th grab, breaking Dan Russell's 25-year-old mark, on a 39-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter of the win over Santa Barbara City on Sept. 25.

He is 11 catches and 285 yards away from besting Isaiah Mustafa's 66-catch, 1,086-yard campaign in 1994 and just 115 yards away from Russell's career yardage mark.

Mustafa, a Santa Clara High product who went on to play at Arizona State, is best known now as the "Man Your Man Could Smell Like" in the series of Old Spice commercials.

TD catch records are tougher to find, but Shayne Sobel caught 18 TD passes from Farhaad Azimi in 1999. No player in the state has caught more TD passes in the 11 seasons that followed and Bittner believes it to be a school record.

With the defense staking Moorpark to a 39-0 halftime lead, star receiver Chris Gant wasn't needed to lead the Raiders offensively Saturday.

As a result, Gant, who caught five passes for 80 yards, saw his touchdown streak halted at 13 straight games.

The sophomore from Alemany hadn't been kept out of the end zone since he caught one pass for 12 yards in his collegiate debut, a 37-20 loss to Pierce Sept. 5, 2009.

He caught 26 touchdown passes in the 13-game stretch. His 44 catches for 634 yards and 10 scores still leads Southern California in all three categories.

Through five games, he remains the only player in the state to scored double-digit touchdowns.

Moorpark College football coach Jim Bittner has been saying his team just needed to get over "the hump" and win a ballgame.

That moment came with 3:29 remaining Saturday night when quarterback Zach Shultis arrived in a focused offensive huddle:

"We felt confidence from the week before, when we drove the ball down to the 1-yard line (on the last drive)," said Shultis. "When we got the ball back, everyone looked at each other in the huddle. You could just tell eveyoone was ready to go. Everyone looked extremely focused.

"I just said, 'Here we go. This is what's we've prepared for. This is what we're ready for.' "

"Everyone just went out and got it done."

Shultis completed a pair of third-down passes to star receiver Chris Gant, picking up 11 yards on third and 8 and 11 yards on third and 2. The sophomore also drew a personal foul on the second catch, pushing the ball half the distance to the goal, to the Hancock 9-yard line.

"They played a corner right on him and safety over the top," said Shultis of Gant, who leads the state in receptions, receiving yardage and touchdowns. "He's just a phenominal athlete and a great route runner. It makes the job of a quarterback a lot eazier when you've got a receiver who you can trust on every play."

Three plays later, Shultis-the-quarterback turned Shultis-the-kicker as the Thousand Oaks High product faced down a game-winning 21-yard field goal. .

"It is kind of weird," said Shultis. "I had never even attempted a game-winning field goal before."

Longsnapper Kurtis Rawls and holder Jerry Henry offered words of inspiration.

"I just trusted them," said Shultis. "The offensive line blocked great and made my job a lot easier."

After three games in Southern California Football Association play, five different local products lead Southern California in eight different statistical categories.

1. Moorpark receiver Chris Gant is No. 1 in receptions (31), receiving yards (406), touchdowns (8) and scoring (48).
2. Ventura running back Michael Davis is No. 1 in all-purpose yardage (208.0 ypg).
3. Ventura quarterback Antavius Sims is No. 1 in rush attempts (68).
4. Moorpark defensive back Marquise Mouton is No. 1 in passes defended (3.0 per game).
5. Agoura High product Justin Arias, the Canyons quarterback, is No. 1 in total offense (350.3 ypg).

Sims is also No. 2 in total offense (336.3 ypg), No. 3 in rushing (115.3 ypg) and No. 7 in passing (221.0 ypg).

Moorpark College receiver Chris Gant caught 16 passes for 173 yards and two more touchdowns in Saturday's 22-21 win over Hancock, breaking Justin Bradley's year-old school record for receptions in a game.

Bradley had 12 catches against Santa Ana last year and Dan Russell had 11 catches against Hancock in 1984.

In three games, the sophomore from Alemany has 31 receptions for 406 yards and eight touchdowns. He leads the state in all three categories.

He's on pace for 103 catches for 1,340 yards and 26 touchdowns. Yikes.

There can't be a more agonizing way to lose an unlucky 13th straight football game.

Having battled back from 31-14 and 38-21 down in the third quarter, the Moorpark College football team was on the cusp of winning its first game in nearly two years Saturday night, until its potential game-winning, 17-yard field goal sailed inches wide as time expired.

And that wasn't the toughest part of the 38-36 loss.

Two plays before the fateful boot, Raiders running back Matt Gentle scored a touchdown on second-and-goal that was marked short of the goal line by officials.

"I saw the hole and dove up in there," said Gentle. "I guess the whole pileup confused the refs a little bit, but I was in there."

Sleep has been replaced this week by an endless loop as the sophomore replays the series of downs over and over in his head.

"I feel like the missed field goal was my fault," said Gentle. "I should have got in without a doubt."

Moorpark head coach Jim Bittner refused to criticize officials, but confirmed that the game film revealed Gentle clearly got into the end zone.

"There were a lot of things that happened in the game that shouldn't have," said Bittner. "It was truly a good game. We really deserved to win the game, but we didn't. That's one of the lessons you learn in sports."

Yet the Raiders feel the result isn't a loss, but a team that's come together.

"The chemistry is way different than last year," said receiver Chris Gant. "We don't have little groups. We're starting to come together as a family."

"The biggest thing to come out of this is they really jelled as a team," added Bittner. "They played well, especially the second half of the game."

Through two games of his sophomore season, Moorpark College receiver Chris Gant continues to be unstoppable.

The Alemany High product caught nine passes for 167 yards and three more touchdowns in Saturday's agonizing 38-36 loss to Los Angeles Pierce.

"They were double and triple covering him on every play," said Moorpark coach Jim Bittner of Pierce's defensive approach. "They made us look silly. Why are you throwing into double and triple coverage? Because, with Chris, we can.

"He puts on a show."

Gant now leads Southern Callifornia with six touchdowns in two games and has 22 on his 12-game career.

Before the season, Gant set a goal of 22 touchdowns. After two games, he's on pace for 30.

Looking through the available records, the most touchdown passes a receiver has caught in a season over the past 10 years is 17. Moorpark's Shayne Sobel did catch 18 touchdown passes from Farhaad Azimi in 1999.

Gant is also second in SoCal in receptions (22) and receiving yards (233).

"He's a Division I wideout, if he takes care of business in the classroom," said Ventura coach Steve Mooshagian after Gant's second three-TD performance against the Pirates in nine months earlier this month. "That's what I'd tell any coach that calls me about him."