Tristan Savage was tallying touchdowns.
Each time the Ventura High junior plunged into the end zone, another finger on his right hand went up. By the fourth quarter, he was staring at an open palm.
Savage
amassed five total TDs, catching nine passes for 216 yards and three scores and carrying the ball four times for 31 yards and two more rushing TDs to power host Ventura to a 48-17 victory over Calabasas in a nonleague game at Larrabee Stadium on Friday, Sept. 25.
“He is a savage,” Ventura head coach Tim Garcia said. “Doesn’t get any simpler than that.”
Savage scored the last five TDs of the game, breaking a 14-14 tie midway through the second quarter when he caught a pass over the middle, cut back to make a Calabasas defender miss and trotted into the end zone for his first score.
Tristan Savage catches over the middle, makes a man miss, picks up an awesome block from offensive lineman Austin Taylor and scores the 36-yard TD for the Cougars.
— Dominic Massimino (@VCSDominic) September 26, 2026
Ventura 21, Calabasas 14 with 7:08 to play in the first half. pic.twitter.com/QU0bphTfDj
On the next Ventura drive, he caught a 29-yard go ball from quarterback Gavin Scarlett (17-for-28 passing for 325 yards, three TDs) to go up 28-14 with 3:02 remaining in the first half.
His next two trips to the end zone came on the ground, punching in rushing TDs from 15 yards and 2 yards out, respectively, over the course of the third quarter.
“It’s my environment at this point,” Savage said of his varied skillset. “You put me in the backfield, I don’t need to adapt. You put me outside, I don’t need to adapt. I have been doing this for a really long time — it’s as close to home as I am going to be.”
Savage’s final act was his most explosive, taking the first play of a Ventura drive in the fourth quarter — a pass into the flat near the left sideline — 80 yards to the house.
The junior now leads Ventura County in receiving yards (691) and receiving TDs (9).
“He captured the moment tonight,” Calabasas head coach Cary Harris said of Savage.
The standout performance shocked few in the stands, who watched the gifted offensive playmaker score 25 TDs last fall as a sophomore, but Savage admitted he had surprised himself.
“This wasn’t a game that felt spectacular. My body was not feeling like I would have a breakout game, but stuff happens. The stars aligned,” Savage said. “It was a great night for our offense.”
Ventura (4-1) will travel to take on Thousand Oaks (1-4) to open Channel League play this Friday while Calabasas (4-1) will play at Oak Park (4-1) in the Coastal 101 League opener.
Ventura was without a number of key players, including running back James Watson, backup Miller Glasgow, receiver Brody Torres, defensive back Mick Van and others as injuries has plagued the team through the first five weeks of play.
With a heavily depleted backfield unit, Garcia and the Cougars turned to Dago Magana.
“As a coach, you hope for the shining stars that you were not aware of,” Garcia said. “We knew Dago was an athlete, he was playing some slot for us, and then he got the opportunity to jump in the backfield in one of our other games. It has been (him) ever since. He just took it over.”
The sophomore, listed at 5-foot-11 and 160 pounds, set the tone for Ventura.
He broke off an 80-yard TD run on the first play of the game from scrimmage, cutting outside on a wide zone run and flashing blistering speed to beat the Calabasas secondary.
“I saw there was green grass, I stuck my foot in the ground and I ran,” Magana said. “The dudes that were on the sideline injured, Miller (Glasgow) and James (Watson), they were pretty proud after that. That was the best part.”
Calabasas answered with a big play of its own, as quarterback Dominik Hardy took off on a 54-yard scoring scamper on a zone read play to tie the game, 7-7, with 8:01 to play in the first quarter.
On 4th and 1 from their own 46-yard line, Calabasas QB Dominik Hardy keeps it himself and goes the distance.
— Dominic Massimino (@VCSDominic) September 26, 2026
Ventura 7, Calabasas 7 with 8:01 left in Q1. pic.twitter.com/xgf7sYNUp0
Ventura retook the lead on the following drive when Scarlett hit receiver Walker Bullard on a 7-yard strike.
Ventura QB Gavin Scarlett hits receiver Walker Bullard who extends for the Cougars second score and the lead.
— Dominic Massimino (@VCSDominic) September 26, 2026
Ventura 14, Calabasas 7 with 3:58 to play in the first quarter. pic.twitter.com/OFekMI6RgH
An 11-play, 72-yard drive for Calabasas — powered in large part by a pair of pass interference calls drawn by star receiver and UCLA commit Kingston Celifie — was capped by a 16-yard TD pass from Hardy to receiver Jayden Campos for the tying score at 14-14 on the first play of the second quarter.
Ventura stymied the Calabasas offense from then on, securing a fumble, an interception or a turnover on downs on each of the next five Coyotes possessions.
Hardy fumbled the opening snap of the third quarter, which was recovered by linebacker Connor Paquette to set up a Savage TD carry three plays later. Fellow linebacker Noah Robinson secured an interception on Hardy the following series.
“(Our defense) came out, I thought, and wore them down just by swarming to the ball and getting lots of hits on the runners,” Garcia said. “They were all over the field tonight.”
Hardy finished 17-for-28 passing for 165 yards, one TD and one interception and rushed for 60 yards and a TD on five carries. Celifie had eight catches for 97 yards.
“We didn’t capitalize in the red zone,” Harris said. “We were in there three times and didn’t convert. We have got to be able to convert on third down and score some points.”
Dominic Massimino is a staff writer for The Star. He can be reached at dominic.massimino@vcstar.com. For more coverage, follow @vcsdominic on Twitter and Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Savage performance leads Ventura to nonleague win over Calabasas
