Thousand Oaks Stops Camarillo Wishbone With Solid Defense

For the past five seasons, Camarillo High Coach Carl Thompson has thrown his Scorpions at Thousand Oaks. And, for five seasons, the Lancers have taken the sting away with victories.

On Thursday, Thompson brought an effective wishbone offense that averaged 258 yards a game, but again was left shaking his head. Thousand Oaks handed Camarillo a 28-7 defeat in a Marmonte League game at Thousand Oaks in which the Lancers limited Camarillo’s wishbone to 190 rushing yards and season lows in points, total yards (214) and first downs (eight).

“That’s a typical Thousand Oaks team,” Thompson said. “They physically beat us, and didn’t make any mistakes.”

That came as a relief to Thousand Oaks (6-1, 4-0 in league play), which had not faced the wishbone since the early 1980s. The Lancers limited Camarillo to 77 yards and two first downs in the second half.

Thousand Oaks’ defense, which set eight school records last year, struggled in its first two games but has allowed just 13 points in its past four.

“People didn’t even bother to compare us to last year’s team because they thought we were so bad,” Thousand Oaks defensive end Mike Ciandella said. “But we’re starting to come together, and we’ve picked up our intensity.”

Thousand Oaks’ defense received a boost from the Lancer offense, which gained 408 yards and controlled the ball for 27 minutes. The Lancers allowed Camarillo only 7 1/2 minutes of offense in the second half.

“That was important because Camarillo has some big kids on their offensive line who can wear you down,” Thousand Oaks Coach Bob Richards said.

They seldom had the opportunity.

Thousand Oaks took a 7-0 lead on its second drive when Greg Buchanan scored from two yards. Cory Bowen (131 yards in 19 carries) dashed 20 yards and the Lancers added a 33-yard run by Eric Houston to Camarillo’s 14.

Camarillo (4-3, 2-2) answered with its only score, a one-yard pass from Corey Tucker to Brian Schmidt with 7 minutes 30 seconds left in the first half. Thousand Oaks countered with three consecutive touchdowns.

The first came on a five-yard run by Bowen with 3:51 left in the first half. On the previous play, on fourth and five at Camarillo’s 35, Bowen had scampered 30 yards.

After a Camarillo punt, the Lancers took over at their 48 with 1:55 left. On third down, Scott Peterson hit Kenny O’Connor (two receptions for 68 yards) for a 32-yard gain to Camarillo’s 10. Peterson (seven of 16 for 149 yards) then hit Jason Ybarra with a 10-yard pass that extended the Lancers’ lead to 21-7 with 1:06 left.

Thousand Oaks’ final score was a diving, 27-yard touchdown catch by Jeff Watts with four seconds left in the third quarter.