The nine losses have been a variety pack, from the early runaways to the late fourth-quarter breakdowns and tough breaks.
The Moorpark College football team is now down to its final swing, with cross-county rival Ventura looming as the willing executioner.
A win over the Pirates in the 42nd Citrus Cup game at Griffin Stadium tonight at 6 is the only escape the 0-9 Raiders have from their first winless season.
Moorpark has lost 10 straight games and 14 of its last 15 dating back to Sept. 2008.
"We've never gone into this game feeling like we couldn't win it," said Moorpark quarterback Ian Shultis. "We're just focused right now on winning this next game."
Shultis can break Farhaad Azimi's 10-year-old school mark for passing yards in a season with 343 yards. He's thrown for more than 300 yards in four of his six starts, including the past three, and has speedster Justin Bradley back from injury to go alongside Chris Gant, who leads the state with 13 touchdown receptions.
"I have great respect for their two wide receivers and their quarterback is very good at getting rid of the ball fast," said Ventura coach Jon Mack.
Suffering from a series of injuries to its powerful defense, including cornerback Travaun Nixon, linebacker Brenden Daley and defensive lineman Derrick Clune, Ventura (6-3) missed its chance for its first berth in the eight-team Southern California regional playoffs with consecutive losses to first-place Bakersfield and second-place Hancock.
"You never want to accept defeat and never want to feel good about losing but I was very proud with the effort of our football team showed last week and the character we showed it," said Mack. "I'm very proud of this team and what we've accomplished this year and the direction that the program is heading."
Mack's general assessment of the injury situation was "it's better."
"Instead of five guys watching practice who weren't going to be able to play, we have five guys watching practice we hope are able to play," said Mack. "But nothing is the same as live reps. Two weeks of inactivity is going to be difficult to overcome."
If the injured players aren't able to go, Ventura can fall back to freshman defensive linemen Tyler Williams and Taylor Ramsey, both of who played well in relief against Hancock.
While Mack has been worried about injuries, Moorpark coach Jim Bittner has been kept up at night by visions of Ventura quarterback Antavius Sims.
"That quarterback of theirs is a real pain," said Bittner. "He's a bigger threat when he pulls it down and runs with it than when he throws it, and he can throw it pretty good.
"We're worried about him."
Bittner has been surprised at the resiliency of his team, which was tied 20-20 in the fourth quarter in each of the past two games at Pasadena City and Glendale, only to stretch the losing streak on bad breaks.
Pasadena won 27-20 on an offensive fumble it recovered in the end zone while the Glendale game turned on a deflected interception.
"I think what happens with our guys, they've been in this thing and they give it a shot and something bad happens and we sort of fall apart," said Bittner. "Bad things happen in football games. You just have to play."
Yet the 54 remaining Raiders have come to practice each week to work towards that first win.
"You'd think they'd be despondent, but they're working hard," said Bittner. "They're doing everything we asked them to do. I just have to give them a different speech each week."
This week's planned inspiration?
"You can do something special here," said Bittner. "You can upset a pretty good football team and an archrival."
While deflecting history.
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