Santee, CA — The Vista Longhorns improved to 2-1 on the season with a hard fought, nail biting 10-6 win over the Santee Ravens. Although the Longhorn offense took a half to find its footing against a very big and athletic Ravens team, the defense was a different story. On a day when the Raven offense ran a total of 12 plays inside the Vista 10-yard line, those 12 plays netted 0 points for the Ravens. Yes, you read that correctly, 12 plays inside the 10-yard line, 7 of which were inside the 5-yard line, yielded no points. For further context, Vista's defense stopped 2 Santee drives at the 1-yard line, taking the best punch that Santee could offer was thwarted TWICE!. In what should easily have been a 14-point Raven lead at the half, was, in reality, a 0-0 game. Vista's defense was nothing short of outstanding. The score remained knotted at zero until mid-way through the 3rd quarter when Vista's quick strike offense perfectly executed 42-yard inside run for a touchdown. As the runner came off of the field, this reporter overheard him telling the Coach that the safety "...didn't want no stang". Paying homage to the Randallstown Mustangs circa 1976, whom the Longhorn coach once played for as a youth. All of sudden, the Longhorns were leading and the energy on the sideline was focused and confident. That focus and confidence carried over defensively of course. The horns forced a Ravens punt after a quick 3 and out. Vista had the ball with about 9 minutes remaining. The Longhorn offense then employed a run heavy clock draining drive consisting of the famed "option" play. The tactic caught the Ravens off guard as they continually overlooked the "pitchman" which Vista used to move the ball methodically to the Raven's 3-yard line. The drive stalled but the damage was nearly done as Vista kicked a 20-yard field goal to take a 10-0 lead with less than 5 minutes to go in the contest. The Ravens, being the quality and proud team that they are, swiftly moved the ball to the Vista 39-yard line with a series of well-designed pass plays. From there the Ravens finally found the end-zone to cut the Vista lead to 4, 10-6, with about 3 minutes to play. In a surprising move the Santee Coach opted to go for 1-point on the PAT vs kicking the PAT for 2 points. The questionable PAT pass attempt resulted in an interception by Vista's defense. More importantly, the Ravens would need a touchdown to win the game instead of a field goal force overtime. It turned out to be a moot point, as the Longhorn defense once again rose to the challenge and intercepted the Raven's at the goal line with 25.7 seconds remaining in the game to secure the victory. With the loss, the Ravens drop to 2-1 on the season, a half-game behind the Longhorns as a result of the head-to-head matchup. The Horns will rest up and regroup on Tuesday to correct the mistakes made and prepare for their next opponent, The Lakeside Vaqueros Gold. Your Longhorn Beat Reporter, Deeh Nice