GOOD NEWS OR BAD NEWS? MOORPARK TO MEET VENTURA WITH MOMENTUM ON ITS SIDE, BUT LOSING ORTIZ DOESN'T HELP.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

In a season filled with pitfalls, it's no shock that Moorpark's football team suffered a huge setback just as things seemed to be going its way.

The Raiders earned their first victory of the season last Saturday, 55-22 over L.A. Pierce, and earlier this week learned that tailback Emmanuel Evans has been cleared to play tonight against Ventura after missing the first three games with a sprained right knee.

That excitement, however, was tempered by the news that starting offensive tackle Jess Ortiz will likely miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury.

Ortiz missed the Raiders' second game against West L.A. after injuring the knee in practice that week, and returned to action against Pierce. But coach Jim Bittner said the pain returned, and that Ortiz may have torn cartilage. An MRI will be scheduled for next week.

``The knee is just not responding the way it should,'' Bittner said. ``He's definitely out for this game, and we fear maybe the rest of the year.''

The Raiders were already in for a challenge against Ventura, which is 3-0 with victories over East L.A., Mt. San Jacinto and Allan Hancock.

The task for Moorpark is to stop tailback Travis Rogers, who is yet to be stopped this season. Rogers, who gained 1,845 yards and averaged 6.9 yards per carry last season, leads the Western State Conference with 462 yards and eight touchdowns on 103 carries this season.

The Raiders have been soft against the run at times this season. In the season opener, Chaffey tailback Dameon Hunter gained 331 yards against them.``I think our defense has gotten a lot better,'' Bittner said. ``Whether it was just weaker competition or whether we've actually improved, I think we will find out against Ventura.

``We have a lot of freshmen out there on defense, and the biggest thing against Rogers is hitting him and wrapping him up. He's a strong north-south runner, so we have to make our tackles.''

Ventura relies on the run, as quarterback Glen Dudley has the worst completion percentage (.381) among starting quarterbacks in the conference. Dudley has attempted only 42 passes in three games. In contrast, Moorpark quarterback Farhaad Azimi attempted 42 passes against West L.A. two weeks ago.

``I'd say they are even stronger than Chaffey, but I think we are better than we were against Chaffey,'' Bittner said. ``We had a lot of question marks in that game, and we were experimenting at four or five positions on defense.

``Ventura is a rivalry for us. They are coming into our place riding high, but luckily we got the win last week to get some momentum going.''

The return of Evans will help. The 6-foot-2, 245-pound sophomore will give the Raiders the powerful runner they have been lacking. But how much Evans will play is still a question.

``He's only had a couple days of contact in practice, so I don't want to push it,'' Bittner said. ``We're happy to have him back, but we don't want to throw him to the wolves.''

MOORPARK vs. VENTURA

Kickoff: 7 p.m., at Moorpark College 

Records: Moorpark 1-2, 1-0 WSC Northern Division; Ventura 3-0, 1-0

Moorpark update: The Raiders' rushing attack, which struggled in the first two games but scored eight touchdowns last week against Pierce, gets another boost tonight with the return of tailback Emmanuel Evans, who sprained his right knee in practice Sept. 5. Statistically, the Raiders have the worst defense in the conference, having allowed 460.7 yards per game.

Ventura update: If the Pirates win, it will be on the ground. Tailback Travis Rogers leads the conference with 462 yards and eight touchdowns. Ventura has the fourth-best defense in the conference and is allowing 268.7 yards per game. Last week against Allan Hancock, D.J. Coote had eight solo tackles and one interception.

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