VISTA – The Vista High Panthers accomplished everything they set out to do against their cross-town rivals, the host Rancho Buena Vista Longhorns, last night. The Panthers earned a 23-0 victory, avenging a shutout at the hands of the Longhorns a year ago, but more importantly made a statement about the Division I playoffs, which begin next week.
“I believe we're a top-eight seed, absolutely,” said head coach Dan Williams, whose team won three in a row to finish 6-4, 3-2 in the Palomar League. “We're playing as good a football as anybody right now. A lot of teams wouldn't want to play us right now. We could easily be, 7-3, 8-2.”
The Panthers, who now lead the series 13-8, beat the Longhorns with a smothering defense that allowed just 103 yards on the evening, the sharp passing of senior quarterback David Fisher and a solid running game, led by the 64 yards from the elusive Jordan Alexander, who capped the scoring with a 10-yard run.
“We wanted to make a statement, and we wanted to earn a home game in the first round,” said junior linebacker/punter/place-kicker Larry East. “We've won three in a row, and we're hot going into the playoffs.”
Leading 7-0 at halftime, the Panthers got a 37-yard East field goal in the third period, and the way the defense was playing, it was pretty much over. The Panthers added a 1-yard run by Ofisa Kose after a 37-yard interception return in the fourth period by defensive lineman Eilert Meyers, who snagged a screen pass.
“The offense did its job, but the defense was phenomenal,” said Fisher, who completed 9-of-13 for 131 yards and a score.
RBV turned it over twice on fumbles in the first half, but it was after a punt that Vista put up the only points of the first two quarters.
Fisher connected with Troy Ware from 30 yards out for a touchdown late in the first period, and East had to connect on a 36-yard extra point after the Panthers committed a personal foul penalty after the touchdown.
It appeared Vista would go up by two scores in the second period, but a 16-play drive ended with a fumble inside the RBV 5.
Vista held a 134-29 edge in total offense in the first half and held the ball for more than 15 of the 24 minutes.
RBV ends its season 1-9, 0-5 in league play.
“The team never quit, and the kids worked hard,” said RBV coach Eric Jorgensen. “We had bad luck and we played a tough schedule. We don't play the pigeons; we go after the big guys.”
