But the Mustangs beat the Raiders anyway, and they're sure glad they did.

With the exciting 26-21 win on Saturday Pioneer clinched second place in the rugged Blossom Valley Athletic League Mt. Hamilton Division and the No. 1 spot in the CCS Division IV bracket.

The significance of that seeding is that Pioneer wound up on the opposite side of the playoff bracket from powerhouse Valley Christian.

"We wouldn't face them until the finals," said Pioneer coach Mark Krail. But the coach was quick to add that his Mustangs have a lot of work to do before worrying about the Warriors—and the first step comes Nov. 22 when they host Gonzales at 1 p.m. The clubs will match identical 8-2 records in the game.

"They run an offense similar to what Oak Grove runs, and they're real aggressive on defense," said Krail. "It's a real challenge for us. It should be exciting."

Both teams can light up a scoreboard--the two clubs each average about 30 points a game.

"It looks to be a high scoring game," added Krail. "They're an 8-2 team, so they must be doing something right."

Pioneer's been doing a few things right, too, this season, and the Mustangs capped an outstanding regular season with the win over Silver Creek on Saturday.

The Mustangs jumped out to a 14-0 lead only to see the Raiders battle back in the second half to take a 21-14 advantage. Pioneer cut the lead to 21-20, then overtook the Raiders with a late touchdown.

"We played well, then had a lull, then recaptured our form and pulled it out in the end," said Krail. "I hope that's something we can build on."

"They're a good team--they tied Oak Grove the week before," said Krail of Silver Creek. "It was a good win for us."

The Raiders had been rolling this season--they're in the CCS Division I playoffs with a 7-2-1 record--especially on their home field. Silver Creek was unbeaten and unscored upon at home this year heading into Saturday's clash with Pioneer. But the Mustangs took care of that in a hurry--scoring on their first possession of the day.

Junior quarterback Jarod Koblis pitched a 34-yard touchdown pass to junior back Andrew Schulz and, after the extra-point kick by Ernesto Torales, the Mustangs had jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

Pioneer made it 14-0 in the second period on a 5-yard touchdown by Jeremy Landucci and a second Torales kick.

The two touchdown lead stood up at the half, but the Raiders went wild in the third period with three scores to take a 21-14 lead.

"The momentum just really changed and it didn't look good," said Krail. "They were running the ball down our throats a bit."

But then the Mustangs started to fight back. Fullback Sinan Dumlugol capped a Pioneer drive that started late in the third quarter with a 2-yard touchdown run to open the fourth, but the extra point attempt failed and the Mustangs still trailed 21-20.

The clubs battled back and forth until the Raiders started to move in the final minutes.

"We punted to them and moved to our 30," said Krail. "We used all of our timeouts and held them on fourth down."

The Mustangs came storming right back. Koblis hit Schulz for 25 yards and Eric Myatt for 35 to move Pioneer down the field. Dumlugol ended the march with a 7-yard TD run.

But that wasn't the end of the game. Silver Creek came fighting back once again, but Tron Hardy's interception foiled the Raiders' comeback bid.

"It was quite a game," said Krail.

Koblis and Landucci led the offensive effort for the Mustangs in the win.

Koblis hooked up on 9 of 19 passes for 115 yards and also ran for 39 yards on six tries. He hit Myatt twice for 54 yards, Schulz twice for 52, Landucci twice for 10 and Shaun Souza once for 10.

"He played well," said Krail of Koblis. "He really showed his leadership skills."

Landucci led the ground attack with 18 carries for 113 yards and a touchdown. Dumlugol supported with 57 yards on 10 carries and Schulz picked up 32 yards on 11 tries.

"Landucci and Schulz were getting pounded, but they did a nice job of running the ball," said Krail. "It was a very physical game."

The coach also praised the work of the Pioneer offensive line of tackles Jeff Terry and Armando Apolinar, guards Steve Matos and Jory Wilson and center Pat Walsh, and he added that Dumlugol played hard.

"He ran the ball hard and he made a lot of tackles," said Krail of the senior fullback-linebacker. "The kid never comes off the field."

Junior linebacker Collin McCarthy was the tackling leader for the Mustangs and Justin Kaufmann and Bryson Teixeira each came up with quarterback sacks. Hardy had the interception and Alex Pagan and Danny Ventura each recovered fumbles.