Thousand Oaks loses football opener at Crescenta Valley
Lancers take
20-13 loss, but junior running back gets
211 yards
on 24 carries
By Wayne Harrison
Acorn Sports Writer

The Thousand Oaks Lancers football team was defeated, 20-13, in the season opener at Crescenta Valley last Friday night.

The loss came despite an impressive varsity debut by Jack Boger, a junior running back who gained 211 yards on 24 carries.

"We made a lot of young mistakes," said T.O. head coach Mike Sanders, noting that the Lancers had four turnovers.

Down 20-7, Thousand Oaks scored on a 4-yard TD-run by Boger with 7:43 remaining in the fourth quarter, and after a missed extra point, the Lancers were within a touchdown.

Thousand Oaks got the ball inside the Crescenta Valley 30-yard line on its last drive, attempting to tie or even go up by one with a two-point conversion, but the Lancers came up short on fourth down when Boger’s run on fourth-and-8 came up two yards shy.

"If our guard doesn’t trip, we might break that one into the end zone," said Sanders, who saw the film of the play and said a key block was missed because a Lancer fell down.

The reason the Lancers didn’t pass on fourth-and-8 was because of how well the running game had worked in the second half. Boger had 157 yards rushing in the second half.

"We were out of time outs," said Sanders. "We had to call two or three plays in the huddle, and that’s the play we ended up running."

Regarding Boger, Sanders said, "He was a tremendous player as a JV player. He’s a kid who has really good field vision and he’s been a good football player at the lower levels."

The Lancers’ junior varsity was 8-2 last year.

Even in defeat, T.O. learned something about itself. And that was heartening.

"Not just that Jack (Boger) can run the ball well, but our offensive line had a really good night in terms of run blocking," said Sanders. "That was a really pleasant part of our game. We thought we were going to be able to do that, but we weren’t a hundred percent confident, so it was a very pleasant surprise."

The offensive line for the Lancers consists of Jeff Ludlow and Ryan Ovanesian, at tackle, Phil Serchia and Jesse Border, at guard, and A.J. Burnham at center. All are seniors except Burnham, a junior who started at center as a sophomore last year.

Also performing well in the season opener vs. Crescenta Valley was senior quarterback Chris Owens who was 12 for 22 in passing for 140 yards with one interception.

Matt Luft, a sophomore wide receiver, had four receptions for 57 yards. Jon Hall, a junior tight end, had three receptions for 38 yards. Junior wide receiver Trevor Snyder had three catches for 22 yards and Boger had two catches for 20 yards.

Sanders said the Lancers made too many youthful mistakes. He said his team drove from inside their 20-yard line to relatively deep inside Crescenta Valley territory the first two T.O. possessions, but both drives ended with turnovers.

"We just shot ourselves in the foot with young mistakes," Sanders said about being down, 17-7, at halftime.

But the Lancer coach said there’s a reason for non-league games—to learn.

"That’s why we have preseason, I think," Sanders said. "We started 11 juniors and two sophomores, and that’s a lot of kids to be playing in their first varsity high school football game . . . we’re starting some guys that haven’t had a tremendous amount of playing time.

"But they did okay," Sanders added. "They made the mistakes that you expect young kids that are nervous to make. But they played hard, they were passionate about the game, and I’m pleased in terms of their effort."

Sanders said Buena, a 26-21 loser vs. Agoura in week one, would present a different look than in previous meetings in the Lancers’ home opener tomorrow.

"They’re very different than they’ve been before," he said. "They spread it out with five wides and they’ve got a new, revamped defense. It’s almost like playing a new opponent. We’ve got to scheme some things a little differently."