Cats edge Ventura in tight game

The Saddleback women's flag football team improved to 3-0 with a 15-12 win over Ventura College on Wednesday afternoon inside the stadium.  The Bobcats will scrimmage USC on Friday before hosting the Saddleback Tournament next Friday.

Saddleback and Ventura were both coming in with high praise as womenscollegeflagfootball.com had Saddleback ranked No. 3 in its early-season power rankings and Ventura was on the bubble after dominating its opening game against Santa Barbara City College (33-14).

Both teams came out slow as the defenses dominated the play in the opening quarter.  Saddleback broke through on the opening drive of the second quarter when they took over at the Ventura 25-yard line and took three plays to get into the end zone.  Brooklee Harris found Grace Goedhart in the corner of the end zone and delivered a strike for the 6-0 lead.  The Bobcats then converted a two-point conversion for an 8-0 lead.

Ventura answered at the end of the second quarter when April Luna found Tanaya Moreno for a 19-yard touchdown to cut the Saddleback lead to 8-6 with 1:15 left in the half.  Ventura went for a two-point conversion but failed on the attempt as Saddleback held on to an 8-6 lead heading to the locker rooms.

The third quarter started the same as the opening quarter as the defenses dominated play.  All seven possessions resulted in no points as the score remained 8-6 heading to the fourth quarter.

Saddleback wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter when Kirra Clavijo found Isabelle Whittaker wide open on the opening play and hit her in stride for a 32-yard score.  Clavijo then found Goedhart in the corner of the end zone and she managed to get one foot down in bounds for the extra point and a 15-6 lead with 11:45 remaining in the game. 

Ventura scored late when Sophia Moran found Honest Watson for a three-yard score with under two minutes remaining in the game.  The Pirates were once again denied on the extra point as Saddleback led 15-12.

Saddleback attempted to run out the clock but were forced to punt with a handful of seconds on the clock.  Goedhart punted the ball to the Ventura 37 yard-line where Watson took it in stride.  The Bobcats were there to greet her as the clock expired on the scoreboard.

Saddleback is now 3-0 to start the season.  The Bobcats will host an 8-team tournament next Friday starting at 9:00 AM.  The Bobcats will open against East Los Angeles College at 9:00 AM.