Thousand Oaks Holds Off Hart, 33-21

Dan Fitzgerald, Thousand Oaks High’s All-Ventura County safety, found Hart’s run-and-shoot offense a little difficult to believe.

First, it was the Indians’ gall. Did they realize they were playing a Thousand Oaks team that traditionally devises one of the region’s best defenses?

“I felt all along that they were underestimating us,” he said.

Then, there was that football that sailed toward him late in the fourth quarter of Thousand Oaks’ 33-21 nonleague win in front of nearly 3,000 Friday night at Thousand Oaks.

It rolled off the fingers of that noted quarterback, Ryan Connors, with the Indians trailing by six points and deep in Lancers’ territory.

“I couldn’t believe he threw that,” Fitzgerald said. “It was right there! I must have blended in with the background or something.”

Fitzgerald’s interception at the 14 ended Hart’s drive with 1 minute 56 seconds left and the Lancers clinging to a 27-21 lead. Thousand Oaks added a 45-yard run by Cory Bowen (200 yards in 19 carries) with 44 seconds left.

Thousand Oaks (2-0) trailed, 21-7, early in the second half before it discovered a way to stop Hart’s offense. The Lancers’ defensive line stopped the run, limiting Hart to 55 yards in 14 carries, and the remaining defenders swarmed the Indians’ receivers.

Although Connors still completed 30 of 58 passes (both school records) for 348 yards and two touchdowns, the Indians (1-1) failed to find the end zone in the final 21 minutes.

“Our defensive line provided us with a great push and kept the pressure on them up the middle,” Thousand Oaks defensive coach Dan Murphy said. “We just basically contained from there.”

After Connors hit Davis Delmatoff for a 15-yard score on the Indians’ first drive of the second half, giving Hart a 21-7 lead, Thousand Oaks answered with four consecutive scores.

Quarterback Ernie Foli scored from two yards and Fitzgerald’s conversion pulled Thousand Oaks within 21-14 with 1:17 left in the third quarter.

Robbie Richards intercepted a Connors’ pass to set up Thousand Oaks’ next score, a 29-yard run by Quincy Jacobs (145 yards in 13 carries). Fitzgerald’s conversion tied the score, 21-21, with 9:43 remaining.

Hart drove to Thousand Oaks’ five, and had first and goal, but the Indians were pushed back to the 10. Doug Distaso hooked a 27-yard field-goal attempt with 5:25 left.

Thousand Oaks, which finished with 407 rushing yards and 434 total, responded with an 80-yard drive that was capped by a 20-yard run by Manfred Wagner with 2:59 left. The drive was aided by a 31-yard run from Bowen, but a poor snap on the conversion left the Lancers with a 27-21 lead.

The Indians then drove 34 yards, including a 20-yard pass from Connors to Aron Miyata on fourth and 10. After an incomplete pass from the 27, Connors fired his fourth interception, also a school record, to Fitzgerald.

Thousand Oaks scored on the game’s opening drive, traveling 62 yards in nine plays. On fourth and two, Bowen ran untouched through the right side for a 16-yard score, and Fitzgerald’s point-after gave the Lancers a 7-0 lead with 7:13 left in the first quarter.

Hart answered with a score on its next drive. On a third-and-nine play at Thousand Oaks’ 28, the Lancers had stopped Hart four yards shy of a first down but were penalized for a late hit.

That gave Hart a first down at the 11 and, two plays later, Distaso scored from five yards. Distaso’s conversion tied the score, 7-7, with 4:39 left in the quarter.