Thousand Oaks Dodges Bullet, Wins in Overtime

Chris Melzer’s 10-yard touchdown run gave Thousand Oaks High a 20-14 overtime victory over Serra Friday night in a Southern Section Division III first-round playoff game.

Serra (6-5) had a chance to win on the last play of regulation but a 36-yard field goal by Eric Carias sailed wide left, leaving the score at 14-14 and sending the game into a California tiebreaker.

In the tiebreaker, each team gets four downs to score from 10 yards.

Serra (6-5) had the ball first in the overtime, but Aaron Shaw intercepted Darnell Lacy’s pass in the end zone on the first play.

Melzer scored on a sweep on the first play by the Lancers (9-2).

The Cavaliers scored on their first possession on a seven-yard run by Brice Montgomery, capping a 14-play, 70-yard drive.

Thousand Oaks answered by driving 77 yards in 11 plays, capped by a 33-yard pass from Scott McEwan to Eric Allen.

Allen returned a punt 51 yards late in the half to put Thousand Oaks ahead, 14-7.

The Cavaliers tied the score on a seven-yard run by Edward Townsend with 3:38 left in regulation.