With only a few seconds left on the clock, down by four points, and only three yards away from an improbable comeback win, Omar Herrera took the snap.

He looked around for an open receiver, the clock ticked down and Herrera fired a shot to Jahrie Level.

A Ventura player swatted Herrera’s pass and the Warriors’ comeback attempt fell flat in a 31-27 loss.

With the mistakes, the Pirates jumped to a 17-0 lead in the first half until the Warriors were able to get a score when Luckner Brady caught a 12-yard pass from Herrera to cut the score to 17-7.

Herrera finished the night with 402 yards passing and four touchdowns, but also tossed three costly interceptions.

“It was disappointing,” Alondra Johnson said. “It was very,  very disappointing. We shot ourselves in the foot in the first half.”

The loss came after an uncharacteristic deficit that the team was unable to overcome.

After going down 17-7 in the second quarter, the Warriors suffered another setback. Herrera had a pass intercepted that was returned for a touchdown to bring the score to 24-7.

The Warriors found life half way through the fourth quarter when quarterback Herrera tossed two touchdowns.

“In the second half we came out on fire, but we just couldn’t finish it,” Johnson said.

Luckner Brady finished the night with 169 yards and two touchdowns on the night to lead the Warriors receivers. Following,  Peter Walton led the team in rushing with 71 yards.

Luckily for the Warriors, the loss did not affect their playoff hopes as they were rewarded the fourth seed and will face-off against the two-time defending state champion Mt. Sac Saturday at 1 p.m.

“I’m really excited for our guys they really deserved this and it’s going to be a great game,” coach John Featherstone said. “If you look back the last five or six years these two programs have been at the top most of the time.”