Ventura Only Gets It Half Right Against San Luis Obispo, 31-21

San Luis Obispo High scored two touchdowns in a 13-second span in the first quarter and held Ventura scoreless in the second half to pull away for a 31-21 victory in a Southern Section Division IV quarterfinal Friday night at Oxnard High.

Josh Loesche kicked a 26-yard field goal midway through the third quarter to break a 21-21 tie. Running back Khaled Elmasri scored on an eight-yard run with 1:57 to play.

Ventura (5-6-1) scored first when Grant Newman blocked a punt on the game’s opening possession and teammate Scott Ellis recovered the ball in the end zone.

But San Luis Obispo (10-2) stormed back, scoring two quick touchdowns in the first quarter on passes of 56 and 20 yards from Mike Crivello to Ryan Sutcliffe and Scott Dodge, respectively, to take a 14-7 lead.

Quarterback Mike Anderson tied the score for Ventura with a 62-yard scoring run on a bootleg down the right sideline. Anderson finished with 60 yards rushing in 15 carries and had 158 yards passing, completing 11 of 17.

San Luis Obispo recovered a blocked punt at the Ventura 23, setting up a 23-yard touchdown pass from Crivello to Doug Fryer two plays later.

Ventura tied the score when Ellis caught a 39-yard scoring pass from Anderson in the second quarter.

Ventura was held to 43 yards and never drove past its own 40-yard line in the second half. Cougar running back Tyler Ebell led all rushers with 81 yards in 10 carries.