CARLSBAD, CA - Loud, enthusiastic cheers echoed across the stadium as La Costa Canyon wide receiver Karson Lippert outran the Carlsbad defense for three consecutive touchdowns and accounted for over 300 yards on the ground in a 36-21 victory over the visiting Lancers to capture the Rotary Cup.
The Mavericks improved to 5-0 overall, 1-0 in the Avocado League. Carlsbad fell to 2-2, 0-1.
“I felt [the game] went pretty good, we played well as a team,” said Lippert. “We started off the first half pretty well and in the second half they started catching up but we just turned it back on and got focused.”
After falling behind 17-0 at the half, the Lancers made a third-quarter comeback to pull within 24-21. When the Mavericks needed to stem the momentum, they turned yet again to Lippert.
Just 12 seconds after Carlsbad pulled within three points, Lippert made an 80-yard weaving run into the far left of the end zone to extend La Costa Canyon’s lead to 30-21.
“We hung with it, we didn't play perfect,” said La Costa Canyon head coach Sean Sovacool. “We played good football not great. There’s definitely room to improve but I was happy with our results. The guys hung with it and when the momentum shifted we responded really well.”
Earlier that night, Lippert had breezed past the defense for two touchdowns that covered 83 and 95 yards, respectively.
To end the night with a bang was an unanticipated run by running back and wide receiver Ja-Quan Carroll. The Lancers faced a fourth-and-10 at the 21-yard line when Carroll intercepted the ball with only five seconds left on the clock and accelerated past the defense for a 79-yard touchdown.
Excitement filled the atmosphere and the Mavericks leaped into the air cheering after the clock timed out declaring that the defeat against their rivals was official. With this victory, not only came pride but the Rotary Cup that the two teams fought for each year.
“With Carlsbad, we’ve had a rivalry. It's the Rotary Cup,” said Lippert. “Now it's tied up 12 and 12, so it started up 24 years ago.”
Although the Mavericks started off with an early lead, the Lancers put up a tough fight and managed to score three touchdowns in the second half.
Opening up the scoring for the Lancers was Cameron Thomas, who muscled into the end zone on third-and-goal from the three.
The touchdown sparked momentum and drive in the Lancers that carried out through the rest of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth.
Just over two minutes after their first touchdown, a deep ball by quarterback Troy Bloomquist spiraled over the defense’s head and was caught in the end zone by Nate Mills. This put the score at 17-13. The Lancers managed to score once more after a 13-yard pass by Bloomquist was caught by Coleby Whillock for a touchdown.
“They got to an early lead but we worked hard and tried to make a game of it,” said Carlsbad coach Thadd MacNeal.
Both teams are off next week and get back to action in two weeks with the Mavericks taking on El Camino and the Lancers facing Oceanside.
