SAN MARCOS — The Palomar Comets began the 2025 season at home but were edged out by the Ventura College Pirates in a hard-fought 32-21 loss.
Last September, Palomar christened its new stadium with a season opener that ended in defeat.
“Ventura is a really good football team, and we went toe to toe with them,” Coach Joe Early said. “This one game is not going to define who we are.”
Palomar and Ventura opened the game with caution. Later, the Pirates had a 48-yard touchdown called back, for an illegal formation. Ventura’s kicker Bodie Ing then set the tone of the game with a 26-yard field goal and a 21-yard field goal during the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Chris Bausch (#21) broke loose for a 52-yard rushing touchdown, marking the first of the 2025 season for the Comets. On Palomar’s next drive, quarterback KJ Chatham connected with Princeton Anderson for a 26-yard touchdown pass, bringing the Comets to a 14-6 lead.
“Princeton made a big play on the first touchdown. You know I just saw like no safety over the top trying to help him. We hit a backside post, and I saw there’s no safety to help that corner…so I trusted my guy and I just put it out there. He made the play,” Chatham said.
The Pirates fought back with a 1-yard touchdown run by Braeson Leon but the 2-point conversion failed when Comets linebacker Hunter Stowe (#51) intercepted the attempt.
Later there was a holding penalty that negated a key first-down pass deep in Pirates territory just before the two-minute warning,
After halftime, momentum slipped for the Comets. Ventura reclaimed the lead with a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Koen Glover, but the extra point missed, leaving the Pirates ahead 18-14.
Palomar responded with a 15-yard touchdown from Chatham to Furious Hoskins (#1). The audience in the bleachers cheered for the players, but the Pirates quickly came at Comets with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Devin Tate to Elijah Davis, changing the score to 25-21.
Right before the end of the third quarter, Chatham seemed to be injured on the drive, leading to his exit from the field. The Comets were uncertain if he would return for the remainder of the game.
“It’s just a little stinger, but I’ll be good by next week, lowered my shoulder when I probably could have slid. My ego actually could have probably slid there and stayed healthy, but wanted to test out on the shoulder and didn’t work that well,” Chatham said.
Although Chatham returned for the last quarter of the game, Palomar’s efforts started to stumble. Ventura’s quarterback Devin Tate broke free for a 24-yard rushing touchdown, raising the score for Ventura 32-21.
A blocked punt set the Comets up with a first-and-goal at the 2-yard line, but the drive ended in heartbreak after a dropped touchdown pass by Hoskins, a short rush stopped at the 1, and two incomplete throws from Chatham, leaving the Comets empty-handed.
Ventura ran out the clock, handing Palomar an 0-1 record to start the season.
“We’ll fix some things, but we’ll definitely come back … You can look for some good things coming for these next weeks coming up,” Coach Noel Phillips said.
The next football game will be on Sept. 6 at East Los Angeles.