Despite the lack of a rowdy Green Hole, the Thousand Oaks vs Newbury Park game was still a thriller that came down to the wire with high tensions.

The Lancers snapped their 25 game losing streak in a win against the Panthers Saturday night. First-year head coach Evan Yabu led the Lancers in a close game that came down to a 4th and 2 stand in the final seconds of the game.

“[It was] probably one of the best feelings of my life just because we worked so hard for so long,” senior safety and wide receiver Miles Briers said. “Indescribable feeling to say the least.”

A scoring outburst of 20 points in the second quarter alone set Thousand Oaks up for a hard-fought defensive victory.

“We just bought into what our coaches have put into this program,” Briers said. “I was pretty amped up during the game but I wasn’t satisfied at any point during the game until the clock reached 0 seconds… totally different feeling.”

The seniors look to end their high school careers with a winning season and set the program up for success in the future.

“This year, we came more prepared,” senior wide receiver George Diakoumopoulos said. “[And the] biggest strength our team showed throughout the game is heart.”

The Lancers proved themselves as fighters this weekend and showed the community what their off-season of hard work and change did for the program.

“We easily could have given up, but we kept clawing back until we got back the lead, and held them out of the endzone on the last play,” Diakoumopolous said. “Winning mindsets produce winning results,”

Thousand Oaks takes on Simi Valley at home on March 27 for their first league matchup of the season.