Vaquero football ended its season strong Saturday at La Playa stadium with a last minute touchdown and a gutsy two-point conversion to defeat the Ventura Pirates 29-28.

The Vaquero record for the season finishes at 3-7 overall, 2-5 in conference play.

“We won a tough win under some tough conditions,” said head coach Reggie Bolton.

The Vaqs suffered losses on both sides of the field from injuries during previous games.

Linebacker Sam Shipley suffered a knee injury, while both quarterback Nick Accani and his backup were unable to throw because of shoulder injuries.

Wide receiver Marcus Rush took the reins as quarterback, completing 11 of 16 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns. Including his rushing yards, Rush accounted for 299 of the Vaqueros’ 323 total yards.

“The coach wanted me to step in at quarterback, and that’s what I tried my best to do,” Rush said.

Clouds of sand swept La Playa stadium as the Pirates set the tone with a 44-yard touchdown run from Ventura running back Carrol Powell.

After a long, successful drive, Rush tied the game on a three-yard bootleg run.

With little over a minute remaining in the first quarter, Pirate wide receiver Andre Ingram was able to haul in an over the shoulder pass which he caught in the end zone. The Pirate place kicker missed the point after which would prove to be a costly mistake.

The Vaqs were able to battle back as Rush delivered a floater into the left corner of the end zone where tight end Ryan Angstman made a remarkable one handed grab to give the Vaqs a 14-13 lead.

The Vaqs piled on the points with a two-yard touchdown run by Kevin McCleary with 20 seconds left in the first half.

To begin the second half, Ventura came out with an onslaught of passing and rushing plays to bring the Pirates to the two-yard line.

But the Vaqueros held strong with a goal line stand.

“Our defense is battling injuries,” Bolton said. “There are guys that really stepped up to make plays.”

Ventura came back with two rapid-fire touchdowns to take a 28-21 lead over City College.

The Vaqueros rallied with a last ditch 83-yard drive. With only a minute left in the game, Rush was able to score on fourth and nine with a touchdown pass to Hunter Easterling.

Down by one, Bolton decided that instead of kicking a field goal and going into overtime, he would take the chance on a two-point conversion for the win.

The Vaqs executed to perfection. Rush faked a reverse to Pierce and rolled out right for a quick pitch through the hands of many Pirates to Vaquero wide receiver Ryan Esmond, bringing the score to 29-28.

“We might as well go for it,” Bolton said. “Why give them another chance?”

With only 54 seconds left to go, the Pirates tried a 53-yard field goal attempt to no avail.

“To finish the season with two wins says a lot about the type of kids we’ve got here in this program,” Bolton said.