Carlsbad outlasts LCC to advance to Open Division final

Less than a month ago, La Costa Canyon and Carlsbad locked horns for their annual league showdown.

The longtime rivals shared the field once again Friday as part of the CIF Open Division semifinals.

Behind 13 unanswered second-half points, Carlsbad took down its cross-town rivals 27-23, punching its ticket to the program’s third CIF Open Division finals in the last six seasons.

“There is an expectation to win and carry on a great tradition,” said Carlsbad coach Thadd MacNeal. “This was a team that humbled us three weeks ago. But when we found out we were playingthem again, our players’ excitement was unmatched.”

La Costa Canyon provided immediate fireworks on its opening possession. Quarterback Quinn Roth hit Coby Herman on a wheel route for a 76-yard touchdown on the game’s third play fromscrimmage.

Carlsbad countered with an 11-play 80-yard touchdown drive, capped by an easy five-yard pitch and catch from Eli MacNeal to Rocky Cummings.

“This is just a hungry group,” said Carlsbad’s Rocky Cummings, “That wasn’t the result we wanted a few weeks ago, but we just put our heads down and kept working. We executed tonight.”

The back-and-forth nature of Friday’s semifinal lingered into the second quarter. On their third possession of the game, the Mavericks found paydirt yet again. Roth hit wideout Jackson Maggiore for a six-yard score, extending La Costa Canyon’s lead to 16-7.

Carlsbad would again respond with a three-yard rushing touchdown from Kai Brown, making it a 16-14 game with 42 seconds left in the half.

With under a minute to play, La Costa’s big-play offense splashed once more. Maggiore returned the ensuing kickoff for 85 yards, setting the Mavericks up with an immediate red-zone opportunity.

Two plays later, Roth and Herman connected for the second time in the half. La Costa led 23-14 at the half.

“At halftime, we felt we just had to keep to our game plan,” Thadd MacNeal said. “We knew we had to isolate their tailback in the second half and control the clock.”

Carlsbad stayed the course with their ground-and-pound offense in the second half, holding the ball for 7:30 before Ian Wall plunged in a nine-yard touchdown.

After a stop by their defense, Carlsbad’s rushing attack went back to work. Kai Brown punched it in from eight yards out, giving Carlsbad its first lead of the night.

Carlsbad’s offense wouldn’t relinquish the ball over the final four minutes to close out the game.

“These are resilient Kids,” said MacNeal, “We coach the best kids in the county, and we have the best coaching staff.”