Fifth-ranked Carlsbad grinds out an upset of No. 3 Mission Hills

by John Maffei

SAN MARCOS — After a back-and-forth, score-filled first half, Carlsbad High School put together a grind-it-out, time-consuming, fourth-quarter drive that sealed a 31-17 upset win over Mission Hills in a key Avocado West League game.

“We misfired on a couple of pass plays in the third quarter, but our defense was holding them,” Carlsbad coach Thadd MacNeal said after his No. 5-ranked Lancers beat the No. 3-ranked Grizzlies.

“Then we put together a nice drive in the fourth quarter to kind of take control.”

Leading 24-17, but with the game still very much in doubt, Carlsbad (7-0, 2-0) put together a 10-play, 91-yard drive that ate up 5 minutes and 6 seconds, with quarterback Eli MacNeal hitting Rocky Cummings with a 17-yard scoring pass.

It was the only the second pass in a drive that featured runs of 14 yards by Kai Brown and 25 and 9 yards by Ian Wall.

Then Carlsbad, keyed by a sack by Cummings, forced a Mission Hills punt with 5:20 to play.

Mission Hills (6-1, 1-1) wouldn’t get the ball back as Carlsbad used nine running plays to move 57 yards to eat up the rest of the clock.

“We had a really good gameplan,” said Cuimmings, who had three touchdown catches last week. “Scoring touchdowns is pretty cool, but the sack was a big play in the game. I’ll do anything to help the teams. Playing both ways is what they need me to do.”

Mission Hills opened the scoring on the game’s first drive, with Troy Huhn hitting Josh Gonzales with a 13 pass to cap a six-play, 58-yard drive. Carlsbad drew even at the end of the first quarter with MacNeal capping a seven-play, 39-yard drive with an 8-yard pass to Kai Brown.

Mission Hills reclaimed the lead when Huhn hit Ryan MacKenzie with a 76-yard strike down the home sideline.

Carlsbad tied it at 14 when MacNeal and Darian Webb hooked up on a 50-yard catch and run.

Ty Baker got the lead back for Mission Hills, nailing a 48-yard field goal. But Carlsbad scored twice in the last 1:46.

Ethan Meyerhoff’s 69-yard kickoff return set the Lancers up at the Mission Hills 30. Three plays later MacNeal found Cummings in the end zone for a 16-yard TD.

After forcing a punt, Liam Campbell’s 19-yard return set Carlsbad up at the 41. Six plays later, Beckham Filippini hit a 48-yard field goal to end the half with the Lancers up 24-17.

“This team is on its way to something special,” Cummings said. “I think we’re proving we’re an Open Division team.”

Carlsbad ran the ball 37 times for 187 yards, led by Kai Brown, who finished with 17 carries for 99 yards. Ian Wall finished with nine carries for 68 yards and Darian Webb seven carries for 31.

MacNeal completed his first 11 passes and finished 17 of 24 for 188 yards.

Cummings had three catches for 41 yards. Webb had four receptions for 87 yards and Brown four for 78.

Mission Hills rushed for just 68 yards on 22 attempts.

Huhn was 9 of 19 passing for 153 yards.