Local college football: Ventura College tops Antelope Valley; MC and CLU fall on road

The Ventura College football team pounded its way into sole possession of first place Saturday afternoon.

The Pirates ran for five touchdowns to pull away from host Antelope Valley College for their fourth straight win, 35-16, in Lancaster.

The win moved VC (5-2 overall) to 4-0 in the SCFA Northern Conference.

College of the Canyons, which entered the weekend tied atop the standing with the Pirates, fell 49-45 to visiting Allan Hancock College.

Running back Jaylen Thompson ran for 108 yards and a TD on 10 carries and quarterbacks Chris Irvin and Ezekiel Savage II combined for three TD runs.

Irvin completed 19 of 32 passes for 191 yards and a TD, but he was intercepted three times. Eli Aragon (Oxnard High) had seven catches for 68 yards. Drew Lopez (Hueneme High) caught five passes for 48 yards and a TD.

St. Bonaventure High graduates Ben Hall and Damian Reyes had interceptions and Poi Aina (Pacifica High) recovered a fumble to lead the defensive effort.

The Pirates host Bakersfield College (4-3, 2-2) this Saturday night.

Bakersfield 25, Moorpark 17

Noah Cronquist caught eight passes for 94 yards at Memorial Stadium in Bakersfield, but Moorpark College dropped its fourth straight game Saturday.

Terell Rosario returned a fumble 69 yards to give the Raiders (2-5, 0-4) a 7-6 lead with 2:18 left in the first quarter.

After Bakersfield built a 25-7 lead in the third quarter, Daniel Burke kicked a 26-yard field goal and Charlie Simmons had a 1-yard TD run to pull Moorpark within 25-17 entering the fourth quarter.

The Raiders drove to the Bakersfield 22-yard line with 1:35 to play, but they were stopped on fourth-and-1 to end the drive.

Moorpark quarterback Macloud Crowton completed 20 of 38 passes for 220 yards and also ran for 59 yards on nine carries.

Chapman 38, Cal Lutheran 10

The Kingsmen threw four interceptions, falling behind 31-3 on the road, as they suffered their second straight loss Saturday night in Orange.

Former Camarillo High quarterback James McNamara scored the lone CLU TD on a 2-yard run with 7:07 to play.

McNamara completed 10 of 19 passes for 86 yards. Starting quarterback JP Andrade completed 16 of 23 passes for 143 yards and three interceptions.

With the loss, CLU (3-4) fell behind Chapman (3-3, 3-2) and into third-place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s three-team Surf pod.

CLU hosts Pomona-Pitzer this Saturday night at Rolland Stadium.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Local colleges: First-place Ventura College wins at Antelope Valley