SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – San Marcos entered its Channel League opener with three shutouts in the young season, so it was no surprise that it was scoreless at halftime against Ventura.

But the Cougars scored touchdowns on their first two possessions of the second half and earned a hard-fought 12-7 victory that improved their record to 7-1 on the year.

San Marcos scored a late touchdown but fell to 4-1 on the season.

The Cougars struck first early in the second half with a short touchdown run by Kaiya Cooke.

The extra point failed, making the score 6-0.

Ventura doubled its lead with a shovel pass near the goal line from Ava Ortman to Mya Rodriguez.

San Marcos scored its only touchdown of the night when freshman Victoria Aldana found Rio Chesluk in the end zone with a short pass.

The Royals converted the extra point and tied the score at 12:7.

San Marcos fended off the attack close to their own goal line and got the ball back two minutes before the end.

But a big sack by Ventura sophomore Brynn Kightlinger forced a fourth-and-25 attempt that the Royals couldn’t convert, and the Cougars ran out the clock to take the league-opening win.