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Giovanni Herrera recovered a fumble for a touchdown after Chris Calhoun stripped the ball. The Comets trailed the Pirates 31-24 with 11:29 left in the game. Photo by Hugh Cox.
Giovanni Herrera recovered a fumble for a touchdown after Chris Calhoun stripped the ball. The Comets trailed the Pirates 31-24 with 11:29 left in the game. Photo by Hugh Cox.
Posted: Sep 29, 2019

Fourth quarter scoring spree not enough against Ventura

ESCONDIDO, CA (9/28/2019) – In their second home game, Palomar lost to Ventura College 45-38.

Palomar won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball. They got to work quickly and were on the board with their first touchdown two minutes into the game on a 41-yard pass from quarterback Rodney Thompson to Damon Wigand. Following a Ventura field goal, Palomar found the end zone again to take a 14-3 lead with 5:39 left in the first quarter. The Comets kicked a field goal after recovering a fumble in the second. They then didn't score until the fourth quarter.

Giovanni Herrera got the scoring party reignited when Chris Calhoun stripped the ball and Herrera scooped it up for a touchdown. They trailed Ventura 31-24 with a little over 11 minutes to go. Ventura then had a kickoff return for a touchdown. Kyran Griffin then had a 48-yard reception from Thompson for another seven to make it 38-31 Ventura. Ventura found an open hole in the middle and ran it in for a 60-yard touchdown. Palomar answered with a Thompson to Johnny Armentrout reception for a 9-yard touchdown, 45-38 Ventura.

Palomar had their first game posting 512 offensive yards this season. Thompson threw for 407 yards, a career-high. The Comets had 105 rushing yards, with 38 coming from Thompson and 32 coming from Wigand. Daishawn Lee posted 29 rushing yards on seven carries. On the receiving end, Griffin on 115 yards on six receptions and Armentrout had 114 yards on nine receptions. Wigand had 74 yards on five receptions.

Preston Dennard had three punts on the night with a long of 49 yards and pinned one on the 1-yard line.

Kameron Camp lead the team in tackles with nine and one tackle-for-loss and Kevin McKinzie and Herrera both had seven. Chris Calhoun recorded six tackles and one tackle-for-loss. Yusuf Leigh had his second sack in two games with some help from Sid Weddington. Defensively, they gave up 500 total yards, 280 passing and 220 rushing.

The Comets had three fumbles and lost two and two interceptions. The defense caused three fumbles as well and recovered all three.

The Comets are now 1-3 and will face Grossmont College at home on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 6 p.m.