MOORPARK GETS LAST WORD IN VICTORY MUSKETEERS SCORE LATE, IN DIV. IV FINAL MOORPARK 14, VENTURA 7.Byline: Dave Shelburne Staff Writer VENTURA - Adam Berry's 49-yard pass to Josh Smith Joshua Smith (born December 5, 1985 in College Park, Georgia, U.S.) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA. High school career set up Darrell Scott's 2-yard touchdown run for visiting Moorpark in the final minute Saturday night at Ventura High, as the Musketeers (10-3) defeated second-seeded Ventura 14-7 to advance to the Southern Section Div. IV football final. ``It definitely was not one of Adam Berry's usual balls,'' Smith said of the high floater Floater A bond or other type of debt whose coupon rate changes with market conditions (short-term interest rates). Also known as "floating-rate debt". Notes: For example, a floater bond may have the coupon rate set at "T-bill rate plus 0.5%". that appeared buffeted by wind as Smith ran down the left sideline sideline See on the sidelines. . ``So the pressure was on tough. I knew I had to make a big play so what I did was, I kept my eyes on the sparrow sparrow, common name of various small brown-and-gray perching birds. New World birds called sparrows are members of the finch family. They were named for their resemblance to the English sparrow and the European tree sparrow (members of the weaver bird family), both , and it lit right into my arms.'' Barry's leaping catch gave Moorpark the longest offensive play of a night dominated by defenses by both teams, but his coach had no doubts the speedy junior would make the play. ``It was floating,'' Moorpark coach Tim Lins said, ``but I knew he'd make the play.'' Scott, who led all rushers, with 172 yards on 30 carries, and also scored on a 15-yard third-quarter run to give Moorpark a 7-0 lead, was hopeful but not quite as confident as his coach watching Smith zero in on that reception - then almost run it into the end zone. ``I almost had a heart attack,'' Scott said. It was that kind of night, where yards - at least near the end zones - came hard for both teams. Moorpark, which lost a nonleague game in week 2 to the Cougars (11-2), moved the ball well in the middle on the field but was thwarted thwart tr.v. thwart·ed, thwart·ing, thwarts 1. To prevent the occurrence, realization, or attainment of: They thwarted her plans. 2. twice by interceptions, as Brandon Smith Brandon James Smith (born February 10, 1986) is a Canadian Professional Wrestler, who wrestles as "Epic" Arick Idle on the Atlantic Canadian Independent Circuit. Brandon grew up as a fan of wrestling, yet never imagined he would one day become a wrestler. While attending St. and Scott Garner both had picks off Berry, who finished 6 for 12 for 134 yards. Ventura struggled even for midfield mid·field n. Sports 1. The section of a playing field midway between goals. 2. Players whose usual positions are in the midfield. mid yardage yard·age 1 n. 1. An amount or length measured in yards. 2. Cloth sold by the yard. Noun 1. much of the game, as a strong Moorpark defense held the Cougars to minus-12 yards in the first quarter, yielded just 110 yards through three quarters and didn't allow a first down for the first 18 minutes of the game. ``I think our defense was the difference,'' Lins said. ``It really was. (No.) 27 (senior linebacker Daniel Vass-goosby) played another stellar game. I even thought 27 seconds was a lot of time at the end for (Ventura) to have the ball, but (the Musketeers defense) got the job done. Defensive end Dan Moran finished the job with a punctuation punctuation [Lat.,=point], the use of special signs in writing to clarify how words are used; the term also refers to the signs themselves. In every language, besides the sounds of the words that are strung together there are other features, such as tone, accent, and mark, sacking sack·ing n. A coarse, stout woven cloth, such as burlap or gunny, used for making sacks; sackcloth. sacking Noun coarse cloth woven from flax, hemp, or jute, and used to make sacks Noun speedy Ventura quarterback Lee Mondol after Mondol had passed the Cougars to the Moorpark 37-yard line and had one last shot at the end zone with 2 seconds remaining. ``The focus tonight was coming out with intensity and stopping Ventura's passing game and stepping up our passing game, as well,'' said Vass-goosby, who had several of the Musketeers' biggest hits of the night, especially in the second half. Moorpark passed well enough - especially on Berry's score-setting connection to Smith in the final minure - but mostly the Musketeers relied on the power running of Scott, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound sophomore who powered through Ventura defenders much of the night. ``Ventura's a really good team,'' Scott said. ``In the first half, we had to really step it up a lot, but we came through. The defense was amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. and the offense kept it up in the second half.'' The Moorpark defense played a big role in the Musketeers' first touchdown, as Zach Trottier's interception of Mondol on the first Ventura series of the second half set up a 20-yard drive that Scoitt made short work of with a 15-yard touchdown run on his first carry of that drive. Ventura matched that with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Mondol to Ventura season-long receiving star Robby Leith before Moorpark surged to win at the finish. ``Their defense stepped it up for sure,'' Leith said of the Musketeeers, who qualified for their school's first berth in the Div. IV final and their first football final since winning the Div. X title in 1997, the only other Moorpark appearance in a championship game. ``They did a real good job of jamming me at the line and wouldn't let me get off the line.'' Dave Shelburne, (818) 713-3609 dave.shelburne(at)dailynews.com |
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