A close game in the first quarter quickly got out of hand for the Long Beach City College Vikings at Ventura College on Saturday night. LBCC was feeling good, scoring on its opening drive of the game before Ventura responded with 45 unanswered points on its way to handing the Vikings a 66-21 loss in both teams' National Northern League opener.
Long Beach quarterback Derrach West led the Vikings on a five-play, 78-yard drive to open the game and gave LBCC a 7-0 lead when he ran in from two yards out.
But undefeated Ventura (6-0, 1-0 NNL) took over from there. The Pirates built a 31-7 lead at halftime and scored two more times in the third quarter before the Vikings finally broke the scoring run.
Saeed Galloway's four-yard touchdown run at the 2:24 mark in the third ended a massive 11-play, 84-yard drive as well as the Vikings' scoring drought. Galloway led LBCC on the ground, rushing 14 times for 101 yards.
Kingston Hala added a one-yard touchdown rush late in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring.
West passed for 105 yards on an 11 for 22 night. He also ran 10 times for 41 yards. Jack Leets led LBCC receivers with three catches for 59 yards.
Trey Edwards III led the Vikings' defense with seven solo tackles. He also forced a fumble.
Long Beach (2-4, 0-1 NNL) returns to action next Saturday (Oct. 23) when the Vikings host East Los Angeles College in a National Northern League game. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
