The final game ever at Veterans Memorial Stadium for the Long Beach City College football team didn’t go as planned, but the effort was never in question.
The Vikings went toe-to-toe with visiting undefeated Ventura, the No. 1 team in the conference, and displayed their abilities in a high-scoring, back-and-forth first half. But LBCC couldn’t hold on down the stretch, falling to the Pirates 45–24 at Vets in their final game at the stadium before it’s demolished and rebuilt.
“This is a storied place, and plenty of greats have played on this field,” said LBCC head coach Marques Cooper after the game. “It’s definitely an emotional one for us. We wanted to go out with a win, but I thought we played with really good effort—and that effort, I’ll take all day.”
The Vikings held strong in the opening half, anchored by a pair of forced turnovers including a fumble on Ventura’s opening drive. Knockia Wynter forced the fumble that was recovered by Riley Weinstein, while Alex Koulovatos also came up big for the Vikings’ defense with an interception later in the half.
Offensively, LBCC capitalized on its first-half opportunities, scoring on four of its six drives before halftime. The Vikings took advantage of the first-quarter fumble, punching in a four-yard rushing score from running back Imari Conway to take an early lead.
Both of the Vikings’ quarterbacks, Wyatt McCauley and Allen Fernett, threw a touchdown in the half, while Justin Auston and Michael Wilson hauled in the two scoring grabs. Kicker Ethan Smithlin added a field goal as time expired in the half, sending the Vikings into the break knotted with Ventura at 24–24.
“I feel like we were just in motion,” Cooper said of the first half. “Things were clicking and our quarterbacks were seeing open guys and we were just taking what they gave us.”
The Pirates flipped the script in the second half and forced a pair of turnovers their way. Marcellus Brigham came up with an interception while Josh Ibann forced a fumble on a kickoff that Isaiah Salinas recovered.
Ventura quarterback Braesen Leon went 16/21 for 235 passing yards and four total touchdowns, including three through the air and one on the ground. Javarien Salter led the Ventura ground game with 14 carries for 51 yards and two touchdowns. Silas Kemp, Tayvion McCoy and JD Rollins each had a receiving touchdown.
“I think we missed a couple of reads and turnovers were big,” Cooper said. “Those things are the killers.”
McCauley went 13/19 for LBCC for 189 yards with a touchdown and an interception, while Fernett went 5/8 for 73 yards and a touchdown. Conway and Lynnden Hodge both had 37 rushing yards for LBCC, while Owen Tomich had seven grabs for a game-high 106 receiving yards.
The Vikings move to 3-6 (3-3 in conference) and will finish their season at Moorpark next Saturday at 1pm.
