Gauchos sink Pirates for second straight win

The Saddleback football program scored some sweet revenge with a 52-28 win over Ventura College on Saturday night in Mission Viejo.  Quarterback Tim Belman had a big night as the Gauchos sunk the Pirates to improve to 3-2.

Saddleback entered the game looking for some revenge after a disappointing 21-14 loss a year ago in Ventura.  They came out with a vengeance, racking up 296 yards of offense in the first quarter and eventually leading 38-14 at the half.   Saddleback extended the lead to 45-14 before Ventura rallied for a couple of scores to make the game look closer on the scoreboard.  The Gauchos then delivered the knockout blow midway through the fourth quarter when Belman found RJ Dedrick on a post pattern for a 42-yard touchdown pass, his fourth TD throw of the game.

Belman finished 34-of-48 for 465 yards and four scores, far and away his most impressive performance of the season.  He was helped by a running game that showed some promise as Jerry Stone and Lee Griggs combined for 107 yards on 21 carries.  Belman was also helped out by a wide receiving corps that appears to be healthy for the first time all season.  The combination of Eric Lauderdale, Dominick Ela and Dedrick combined for 22 catches for 384 yards and three scores.  Dedrick was the breadwinner on Saturday, finishing with 176 yards on seven receptions.

As good as the offense was on Saturday, it may have been the defense that played its best 60 minutes of football all season.  The Gauchos intercepted Ventura starter Brad Odeman four times, tripling his number for the season after entering the game with just two interceptions for the year.  The Saddleback defense was often given a short field to work with due to some special teams mishaps, but delivered in the red zone.  The Gauchos picked off three passes inside the 20, including two in the end zone as they continuously turned back a Pirate offense that entered the game ranked No. 5 in the state in total offense.  Rex Wasserbach easily turned in the best game of his career, leading the team with seven tackles, including an interception and a pass break-up. 

Saddleback improved to 3-2 with the win, but will have no time to enjoy the sweet taste of victory with Fullerton College coming to town next weekend for Homecoming.  The Hornets improved to 5-0 last night with a stunning 38-36 win over Riverside College.  Fullerton is expected to be ranked in the top-5 nationally on Monday morning when the JCGridiron.com Dirty 30 Rankings are released.

Game time next Saturday is set for 6:00 PM with the game being broadcast live on the Gaucho Sports Network via streaming video.