Defense Shows Up Once Again and Thousand Oaks Surges to Victory

A quarterfinal finish is not good enough for Thousand Oaks High. That’s why, when it’s time to handle the burden, it’s difficult for the Lancers to put it in any better hands than its defense.

This, after all, is a Thousand Oaks unit that when given an inch takes several yards. Mostly backward and usually with extreme prejudice.

“Our defense has been a major part of our success all year,” Thousand Oaks Coach Bob Richards said after the Lancers defeated Leuzinger, 18-13, Friday night at Leuzinger to advance to the semifinals of the Southern Section Division II playoffs. “It came down to white-knuckle time. We had a goal. Our defense, the mantle was put on them. And I can’t think of a better place to put it.”

After fullback Chris Foster scored the go-ahead touchdown on a one-yard dive with 2:25 left, the Thousand Oaks defense held the Olympians. Leuzinger (8-3-1), which tied for second in the Bay League but advanced to the playoffs as the league’s third-place team, got one first down after taking the ball at its 47, but cornerback Jim Magallanes intercepted a pass inside the 15-yard line on the game’s final play.

Thousand Oaks (11-0-1), the division’s top-seeded team, plays Muir, a 28-0 winner Friday over San Marcos, next week with a berth in the championship game at stake.

First, however, there was Leuzinger, a banged-up but spirited team that extended Thousand Oaks until the end.

The Olympians had taken a 13-6 lead into the fourth quarter. Foster’s first touchdown--another one-yarder--brought the Lancers to within one point at the start of fourth quarter, but the extra-point attempt was wide right.

When the Lancers regained possession, they were forced to punt from their 35 with 6:33 remaining. Jason Ybarra’s punt deflected off the hands of Leuzinger return man Donal Byrd and the loose ball was recovered by Thousand Oaks’ Greg Buchanan on the 29.

“I was sprinting the whole way down,” Buchanan said, “and when he dropped it, I just jumped on it.”

Easy enough. The ensuing score, however, was not to be so easy.

The 29-yard mini-drive took nine plays, including a 20-yard dash by Steve Rudisill on third and 17 at the 24. Finally, on fourth and one--and after two previous tries from the one--Foster banged into the end zone over right tackle.

“Oh man,” Foster said when asked to recall his second touchdown and 13th of the season. “They had the whole defense on the line and it was a dog fight. I think everybody knew that was the game-decider right there. I just put my head down and gave it all the leg drive.”

For Leuzinger quarterback Zac Odom, who led the Olympians back from a 6-3 halftime deficit, it seemed an especially bitter defeat.

“We came out and did the best we can,” he said. “It wasn’t good enough on this night. At the end of the game, they wanted it more.”

The Lancers’ only score of the first half came on a 44-yard pass from Scott Peterson to running back Mike Lindsay. Odom, who also plays defensive back, seemed ready to intercept the pass, but Lindsay wrestled the ball away in the right flat. He turned upfield, picked up a crushing block by Magallanes, and sprinted into the end zone. With 2:21 left in the first quarter, the Lancers led, 6-0.

Ybarra’s point-after attempt was blocked by Charlie Gonzalez, who also had two sacks of Peterson in the first half.

The Olympians took possession of the ensuing kickoff at their own 26-yard line and in 12 plays moved into kicker Angel Andrade’s range. His 31-yard field goal with 7:47 left in the half trimmed Thousand Oaks’ lead to 6-3.

The Lancers twice intercepted Odom passes in the first half--one by David Watts, his second of the season, and another by Rudisill, his third. Save the field-goal drive, Thousand Oaks contained Leuzinger’s ground game as well, limiting the Olympians to 42 rushing yards and 92 total.

Thousand Oaks moved the ball well, but was unable to capitalize early. Lindsay rushed 12 times for 85 yards in the first half and Foster mustered 22 in five and finished with 24 in eight. Lindsay finished with 107 yards.

Thousand Oaks appeared lackluster at times. It was penalized only once in the first half for five yards and converted only two of five third-down opportunities into first downs.

Despite being outplayed in the first half, Leuzinger dominated the first part of the second. Courtney Overton returned the half’s opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown that gave the Olympians their first lead, 10-6, and Andrade added a 35-yard field goal with 3:41 remaining in the third quarter for a 13-6 advantage.

The morale, Rudisill said, “wasn’t too good. We didn’t come out here to play football.”

On this night, however, the defense was there again. And the offense was just good enough.