For Jordan Mannisto, it was a moment worth waiting for.

And boy, did he ever have to wait for it.

Unfazed by a five-timeout interlude preceding the kick, Mannisto drilled a 50-yard field goal as time expired Friday, lifting Westlake High to a 17-14 win over visiting Thousand Oaks in a classic addition to a classic rivalry.

The kick moves Westlake (5-3, 4-1) into sole possession of second place in the Marmonte League, while delivering a gut-wrenching loss to Thousand Oaks (4-4, 3-2).

"It was great," said Mannisto, after the first true game-winning kick of his three-year varsity career. "I can't even explain it."

The delay, he said, was no big deal.

"I was just trying to stay warm," he said. "The pressure doesn't really bother me. It was perfect. An amazing hold by (James) Delacerna, a great snap by (Brian) Ranieri in his first game back, everything."

If anything, the delay might have been toughest on Ranieri, the long snapper returning to play after an injury. He described the wait as "a lot of nerves, a lot of anxiety."

As it turns out, the kick came not only after five timeouts, but two changes in Westlake strategy. The Warriors called the first timeout with three seconds left to get the kicking team on the field. Thousand Oaks called the next three in an attempt to ice Mannisto. In the midst of that sequence, Westlake coach Jim Benkert actually decided to switch from a field goal to a fake, but after the third timeout, Thousand Oaks dropped two players back into defensive coverage, negating that plan and forcing Benkert to call his final timeout to go back to a field-goal attempt.

"They were coming with 11 guys, and we had a fake prepared for that," said Benkert. "Then they backed two guys off. I knew we could kick it, but we've had problems protecting the kick: snaps, holds and kicks. That was my concern. I had no question he could make it. The question was, could everybody else do their job?"

They did, setting off a wild celebration that saw Mannisto run to the far end zone — partially out of adrenaline, partially to avoid being pummeled, he joked — before he was mobbed by teammates.

Meanwhile, on the other sidelines, the emotions were a polar opposite. After talking to his team, Thousand Oaks coach Mike Leiben — the longtime Westlake defensive coordinator in his first year as head coach of the Lancers kneeled for a long time on the turf, his head down.

"Our kids fought their tails off," Leiben said, quietly. "You've got to hand it to Westlake. They made the last play that mattered. We've got to just keep getting past little mistakes that are killing us right now."

Thousand Oaks had tied the game at 14 on a 3-yard pass from Ian Shultis to Evan Yabu just five seconds into the fourth quarter. Each team was stopped on its subsequent possession before Westlake started at its own 1 with 6:18 remaining and mounted a 12-play drive.

Along the way, the Warriors dug a hole for themselves with an intentional-grounding call that made it second-and-23 at their own 29, but escaped when quarterback Nick Owens scrambled for 13 yards, and Thousand Oaks was flagged for a personal foul to tack on another 15. That moved the ball to the Thousand Oaks 42, and seven plays and nine yards later, Mannisto delivered his kick.

"It was great for us," said Owens, who passed for 143 yards (11 of 20) and ran for 49. "Coach Leiben mixed up a lot of things all night long, but my offensive line did great. We had one guy go down in the fourth quarter, Marcus Soler, but Brian Ranieri stepped up big time, especially on that field goal."

Westlake led 14-7 at halftime, erasing Thousand Oaks' early 7-0 lead with scoring drives of 80 and 79 yards. The first ended with a 1-yard run by Cooper Shockley, who finished with 17 carries for 157 yards. The second concluded with a 3-yard pass from Owens to Chris Biggs.

Thousand Oaks had taken its lead on a play featuring two players who had standout nights — Shultis, 15 of 24 for 174 yards, and running back John Lister (29 carries, 130 yards) — but not in the usual fashion. On a trick play, Shultis pitched Lister and went out on a pass route to catch Lister's 3-yard TD pass.

"It was really a memorable night," said Owens. "I have a lot of friends at Thousand Oaks — my brother and sister both went there — and there was a lot on the line with the coaches. And we came through, but both teams played to the best of their abilities."

Westlake 17, Thousand Oaks 14

Marmonte League

Thousand Oaks 0 7 0 7—14

Westlake 0 14 0 3—17

Second quarter

TO — Shultis 3 pass from Lister (Luft kick), 10:54.

West — Shockley 1 run (Mannisto kick), 8:07.

West — Biggs 3 pass from Owens (Mannisto kick), 1:53.

Fourth quarter

TO — Yabu 3 pass from Shultis (Luft kick), 11:55.

West — FG Mannisto 50, 0:00.

Teams Stats: TO West

First downs 17 17

Rushes-yards 34-132 28-214

Passing yards 180 143

Comp-Att-Int 16-25-0 11-20-0

Punts-avg. 4-42.3 4-46.0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 3-30 4-33

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — Thousand Oaks: Lister 29-130, Yabu 2-14, Shultis 3-(—12). Westlake: Shockley 17-157, Owens 10-49, Hagy 1-8..

PASSING — Thousand Oaks: Shultis 15-24-0-174, Lister 1-1-0-3. Westlake: Owens 11-20-0-143.

RECEIVING — Thousand Oaks: Yabu 7-60, Luft 5-45, Lister 2-27, De Mirjian 1-46, Shultis 0. Westlake: Peterson 4-67, Delacerna 4-48, Hagy 2-26, Biggs .

MISSED FIELD GOALS — Thousand Oaks: Luft 27 (blocked).

TEAM RECORDS — Thousand Oaks 4-4, 3-2; Westlake 5-3, 4-1.