Lancers football is defeated by Moorpark, 40-20
By Steve Ames

Special to the T.O. Acorn

For the Thousand Oaks High Lancers, defending Marmonte League champions, it has been a football season of ups and downs.

On Sept. 6 the Lancers had a good scrimmage with Ventura High to get ready for contact football, but lost first string senior quarterback Brad Sievert to a collarbone injury.

The team won its first two non-league games, but had to forfeit one win when second string junior quarterback Chris Owens was declared ineligible because of a Marmonte League transfer rule.

Thousand Oaks lost to Camarillo, 24-14, in Owens’ final game and the final non-league game. Lancer head coach Mike Sanders said Owens transferred to Thousand Oaks last January from Grace Brethren High in Simi Valley, but was deemed ineligible because a bona-fide change of residency did not occur.

"When we found out what the situation was we called the CIF," Sanders said. "They told us exactly what to do. We followed their directions. They brought back an edict that said (to) forfeit the first game and that was good with them. But he is not eligible for league play (this year)."

Thousand Oaks beat Simi Valley, 20-14, as senior wide receiver, third string quarterback Lance Baird called the signals, but lost the next week to Agoura, 42-20, as the team had its league unbeaten game record snapped at 12.

Sievert came back to start the Calabasas game, but only played a quarter before Sanders moved Baird from wide receiver back to quarterback in place of Sievert during the second quarter of the 24-7 win over the Coyotes.

The Lancers will host Royal tomorrow, after succumbing to Moorpark, 40-20, last Friday. Sievert is out for the remainder of the season.

"He had a pretty severe fracture," Sanders said. "They’re not going to have to do surgery–which is good news. But he’s done."

Despite the roller coaster season, the coach remains optimistic as his team prepares for Royal and the prospects of a playoff bid.

"I’m proud of our kids. They’re going to stay after it," he said after Thousand Oaks lost to Moorpark (7-0 overall, 4-0 league). "This league is not over by a long shot."

Royal and the Lancers have the same records: 3-4 overall, 2-2 in the Marmonte League and tied for fourth place in the league behind Moorpark, Westlake and Agoura.

Regarding the Highlanders, Sanders said that "obviously they’re a team that throws the ball really well."

Last Friday the Highlanders were blanked by Westlake, 48-0.

Against Moorpark, running back Ryan Sandlin got the game started with a 75-yard first quarter touchdown run. The PAT was blocked.

After the Musketeers scored a second quarter touchdown and two more in the second quarter to lead 20-6 at halftime, the Lancers scored the next two touchdowns both on 5-yard runs in the third quarter.

Baird scored the first one with 6:50 remaining and Sandlin the second with 2:36 left, but Moorpark scored two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

Sanders is pleased with how Baird has responded to playing QB. "He’s a great kid and a kid with character," he said. "He’s going to give us everything he has." Baird has completed 38 of 71 pass attempts for 604 yards (54 percent), has three TD passes and three passes have been intercepted.

The coach said he was happy to have Sandlin in uniform after he spent the Oct. 18 Calabasas game on the sidelines with injuries. Sandlin leads the team in rushing with 457 yards in 92 attempts with five touchdowns.

"It was great to have him back," the coach said. "He knocked the rust off a little bit early and got going."

Overall, despite the score in the Moorpark game, Sanders lauded the Lancers’ play.

"The kids fought hard," Sanders said. "They gave up a couple of points at the end on offense. Our kids fought hard until the end and I’m proud of them. Moorpark’s a good football team but they’re not 20 points better than us."

Wide receiver/defensive back Corey Mazza, usually a big part of the offensive game plan, was held to one catch for 5 yards. He leads Thousand Oaks receivers with 32 catches for 654 yards and four TDs.

"They doubled him," the coach said. " (Moorpark) played him over and under and kind of took him away from a lot of the game. We were having some protection problems a little bit... We want to get him (Mazza) the ball. The question is how. We’re going to keep working on that."

Two others who stepped up at wide receiver in the Moorpark game were Bryan Van Scoyk and Zeke Kuch, the latter also a defensive back.

Sanders said that Van Scoyk sustained "one of the worst knee injuries I’ve seen" last year. Van Scoyk had major surgery and didn’t join the Lancers until three weeks into this season.

"I’m really pleased with him," the coach said. "I’m touting him for being a mentally tough human and coming back and getting a big catch in the game."

And about Kuch, the Lancer coach said "Zeke’s a tough kid. He plays hard. He’s probably 150 pounds soaking wet. He gives you everything he’s got every single play. That’s all you can ask. He’s a kid who has really worked hard."

Kuch is the Lancer leader in kickoff and punt returns.

Another wide receiver/defensive back, Shawn Love, also has impressed Sanders.

Love has 111 yards in five catches, a 22.2 per catch average, and two touchdowns.

Sanders said that two linebackers had made many contributions this season to make Thousand Oaks strong defensively.

"Mike Sueoka I know ran around and made a lot of tackles and Brandon Mustin just came back," he said. "We haven’t had him since Buena. Those two inside backers, with the physical running game they (Moorpark) had, helped us a lot."

Second to D/E Richard West in team tackles, Sueoka has 32 primary and 37 assisted tackles, four for a loss, one forced fumble, one recovered fumble, four QB-pressures and two QB-knockdowns.

West has 36 primary and 30 assisted tackles, three sacks, 10 for a loss, two pass deflections, one fumble recovery, 25 QB-pressures and nine QB-knockdowns.

After the Royal game, the Lancers have a pair of league games to finish out the regular season: Nov. 8 home against Westlake High and Nov. 15 at Newbury Park High.

Sanders is pleased with how Thousand Oaks, led offensively by its third quarterback, is taking on the 2002 season. After the loss to Moorpark he said, "We got what we got, and our kids worked hard. Our kids don’t quit."