Ventura Drops the Ball, 34-32

SANTA BARBARA —  Running back Damon Hill dropped a two-point conversion attempt with 42 seconds remaining, leaving Ventura College short in a valiant attempt to rally from a 28-point deficit Saturday.

The Pirates were defeated by Santa Barbara, 34-32, in the Western State Conference North Division game.

Ventura put together a furious rally in the fourth quarter, scoring three times.

Wide receiver Jason Bendinelli caught a three-yard touchdown pass to put Ventura in position for an attempt to tie.

On the conversion attempt, quarterback Jason Brown rolled right and found Hill wide open in the right corner of the end zone, but the pass was dropped.

“Damon is on a special-unit team and he’s the guy the ball is going to on that play,” Ventura Coach George Rosales said. “The play was there.”

Santa Barbara quarterback Jarrod DeGeorgia put on an aerial clinic against the Pirate defense in the first half.

DeGeorgia threw four first-half touchdowns, staking Santa Barbara (3-4, 3-3 in conference play) to a 28-0 lead in the second quarter.

DeGeorgia, the conference’s second-ranked passer, finished 19 of 34 for 394 yards and five touchdowns.

Ventura receiver Ivan McCrae combined with Brown on an 88-yard touchdown pass play to make the score 34-26 with just under three minutes to play.

The Pirates (4-3, 3-2) recovered an onside kick and marched 60 yards for their final touchdown.

“Every time we went ahead and started to feel comfortable,” DeGeorgia said. “They came back and made a big play against us.”

Ventura used two quarterbacks, Brown and Aaron Trianna, who combined for 262 yards passing. Brown was 10 of 21 for 167 yards and three touchdowns.

John Patton added 106 rushing yards in 18 carries.