Lancers Fall to Muir, 9-3, in Tiebreaker

Lance Martin was a reserve middle linebacker two years ago when his football team at Thousand Oaks High won a Southern Section championship. It was Thousand Oaks football’s only Southern Section title, its most glorious hour.

Martin, a senior, will have to cherish those feelings because the Lancers came up short this season.

Thousand Oaks, the top-seeded Division II team, was defeated by Muir, 9-3, in a semifinal game Friday night at Citrus College. The outcome was decided when Muir’s Carlton Greer lunged three yards into the end zone on third down in a California tiebreaker.

The run came moments after the Mustangs’ defense held Thousand Oaks four times from the 10-yard line. Lancer fullback Chris Foster bounced off the interior line on fourth and inches from the goal line.

“Look at the score,” Martin said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

Asked to put into perspective a season that produced 11 victories against only one loss and a tie, Martin shook his head.

“I can’t yet,” he said. “No.”

Thousand Oaks, it seemed, finally stumbled upon a team that would not wear down. Muir (11-1-1) possessed greater size than Thousand Oaks along both sides of the line of scrimmage.

But, when regulation expired, neither team had blinked and the score was 3-3.

“We played a very good football team here,” Thousand Oaks Coach Bob Richards said. “Very physical and very quick. I’d be very surprised if they didn’t win the CIF championship next Saturday.

“The CIF championship was won tonight. Put my words on that.”

Perhaps, but Muir Coach John Tyree was either unimpressed or just plain uninterested.

“All year long, we have been the team that wore the other team down,” he said. “I don’t think tonight we played near as well on defense as we normally do. Either Thousand Oaks didn’t fold or we didn’t hit very hard.”

The Lancers were unable to sustain offensive continuity, especially in the second half. Thousand Oaks had 129 yards in total offense--99 via a ground game that averaged nearly 250 in its first 12 games.

And, still, in the overtime, it came down to the fullback needing about a foot.

Muir quarterback Sedrick Thomas passed for 132 of the team’s 205 total yards--most of which came in the second half--and 21 on Muir’s only scoring drive. Early in the fourth quarter, the Mustangs went 21 yards in seven plays--including a crucial fourth-and-nine conversion. Todd Elkins capped the drive with a 25-yard field goal to tie the score. He later missed an attempt from 28 yards with 12 seconds remaining in regulation.

Jason Ybarra’s 36-yard field goal for Thousand Oaks with less than a minute left in the second quarter was the only score of the first half.

Lancer defensive back David Watts set up an 18-yard drive when he recovered Muir tailback Sam Williford’s fumble on the Mustang 37. Seven plays later, Ybarra booted his second field-goal of the season.