Courier

Media Credit: Brian Warouw Sophomore running back Anthony Pines, hurdles over a Moorpark player en route of the endzone in the Lancers' 27-20 win at Robinson Stadium on Saturday.

Freshman Reuben Thomas scored four different ways at Robinson Stadium on Saturday, en route to leading PCC to a 27-20 victory over Moorpark and its first National Northern Conference win this season.

The utility player scored once each on a run, a punt return, a pass and a fumble recovery, with the last touchdown breaking a 20-20 tie with a minute and a half left in the game.

"He's definitely the player of the game," said Acting Head Coach James Kuk.

Coming off a bye week, the Lancers struggled to score in the first half until Thomas' 1-yard run into the end zone tied the score at 7-7 late in the second quarter.

In the third quarter Thomas picked up where he left off, scoring on a 75-yard punt return just under 90 seconds into the half. The Raiders then tied it at 13-13 on a 21-yard pass from quarterback Ian Shultis to wide receiver Curtis Peterson, but Thomas caught a 4-yard pass from starting quarterback Nate Montana to put the Lancers back up with less than a minute to go in the quarter.

A Moorpark touchdown early in the fourth quarter to tie the game yet again set up the dramatic finish. With Thomas in as quarterback in the red zone on the Lancers' final drive, he misconnected on a handoff to running back John Roberson but somehow managed to come up with the ball and get into the end zone.

The back-and-forth nature of the game didn't allow PCC's offense to get into any kind of flow.

"The stalled drives hurt us, not being able to complete passes hurt us," said Kuk. "It was very choppy."

Montana, who got the nod over Jonathan Troast to start in place of the injured Nick Ponce, finished with 87 yards passing on 13-27 completions with the one touchdown to Thomas. He was also intercepted twice.

Montana was relieved in the fourth quarter by freshman Caleb Fore, who made his first appearance of the season. Fore finished 4-5 for 60 yards passing. He was the third quarterback used by the Lancers in the game and the fifth overall this season.

When asked about his seemingly game-to-game quarterback decisions, Kuk said, "We're having to manage games to manufacture wins."

"More than any other school this season we've given different kids opportunities," he added. "We're not going to be stuck on one thing too long."

On the defensive end, the Lancers stifled the Raiders' rushing game, with sophomore linebacker Jeremy Aguilar's nine tackles leading the way. Moorpark averaged -0.4 yards in its 20 rushing attempts and scored all of its touchdowns on passes from Schultis save for their first, which was on a blocked field goal return.

Shultis had a solid game for the 0-8 Raiders, completing 22 of his 44 passing attempts for 328 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

The Lancers, who are now 1-3 in conference play and 4-4 overall, play their final home game Saturday against College of the Canyons.

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