Thursday night's semifinal matchup against Oceanside will mark La Costa Canyon's next opportunity to advance to the "Q" for a second CIF final appearance. In only his second year at the helm, Sean Sovacool has built a tough, hard-nosed program, dedicated to running the football and playing stifling defense. Finesse is out the window. 

Possibly the most interesting storyline of this game involves the Maverick’s young-gun head coach pitted against arguably the county’s most legendary football coach, John Carroll. The Oceanside Pirates - a program respected nationally - have won 2 state titles and 13 CIF Championships. The pirates have won 7 straight

CIF Championships dating back to 2004. Will this year be their 8^th in a row? 

La Costa Canyon (9-2), winners of the Avocado league west, up-ended Oceanside (8-2-1) earlier in the season with a 21-16 victory in Oceanside. 

In that game, LCC held Oceanside to under 100 yards rushing and intercepted Oceanside quarterback Tofi Pao Pao twice. La Costa Canyon stormed back from a halftime deficit and held the pirates to only one field goal in the second half, holding off a late Oceanside surge. 

Sovacool and his players have surely not forgotten last year’s quarterfinal playoff game against Carroll and the Pirates, which eliminated the Mavericks from playoff contention. Will Thursday’s semifinal end in a similar result, or will the Mavericks pull off a win.  

Prediction: 

The teams are athletic, aggressive, well coached, and evenly matched on offense and defense. This game will be back and forth, and come down to a big play of special teams in the second half. 

La Costa Canyon 24 – Oceanside 21

The Mavericks didn't relent in their CIF quarterfinal matchup again Westview. The stingy Wolverines, combined with some blown offensive opportunities for the Mavericks forced a back and forth North County bruiser of a football game.

LCC's snappy runningback, Deon Dickey, led the Mavericks on the ground with with 184 yards on 24 rushes, including runs of 46, 24 and 22 yards.

La Costa Canyon's defensive recorded 6 sacks and limited the powerful Westview offense to only 6 points and under 100 yards rushing.

La Costa Canyon 13-6 win advances them to the DII CIF semifinals, where they will host familiar north county foe, the Oceanside Pirates. The Mavericks have the chance to advance to their second CIF final in school history, and first under coach Sean Sovacool. La Costa won its only CIF championship in 2008 against Escondido.

Read the full game recap here.

Its rivalry week for the La Costa Canyon and Torrey Pines football squads. This is one of the fiercest rivalries in the county and the stakes are high for both teams. Doug Heflin is a well respected La Costa Canyon High School social sciences teacher who graduated from San Dieguito in 1975. Here is his take on the real story behind the Maverick and Falcon rivalry.

The San Dieguito Union High School District’s almost 40-year history of being a one high school district came to an end with the 1974-75 school year. San Dieguito Union High School in Encinitas dropped the “Union,” while Torrey Pines High School was born in the boonies (at the time) east of Del Mar. Actually, Torrey Pines wasn’t completed in time for the beginning of the school year, so for the first few months, both student bodies used SDHS -- Mustangs in the mornings and Falcons in the afternoons. Still, the North vs. South SDUHSD Civil War had begun!

Torrey Pines didn’t have a stadium for a few years, so San Dieguito had to share its stadium with the new kid. The first football game between the two schools in 1974 was a 41-20 victory for the Mustangs! Of course, the Falcons had the excuse of not having a senior class their first year. 1974-75 was the last year that SDHS’s senior class was from the entire school district. 

A lot of SD’s junior varsity football coaches had moved to TP when it opened. Unfortunately, SD didn’t have the best record against their new arch-rivals, except for a little run in the late 1980’s when Ed Burke coached the Mustangs. We did have one player from the ‘80’s make it to the NFL, Keith Kartz, who became a lineman for the Denver Broncos.

Today, the SDUHSD rivalry is kept alive as La Costa Canyon vs. Torrey Pines, with LCC as the new representative of the north beginning in 1996. La Costa Canyon replaced San Dieguito as the main comprehensive school for the northern end to accommodate the growth of the area. San Dieguito shrunk and morphed into the “Academy” that year.

On the football field, the North’s fates didn’t fare much better when the Mavericks replaced the Mustangs. Torrey Pines dominated both squads in the 1990’s, which the Falcons advertised with their “Never in the Nineties” T-shirts. The tide started to turn as new LCC head coach Darrin Brown methodically built a powerhouse program at La Costa Canyon, resulting in the Mavs not only becoming more competitive against the Falcons, but more victorious. As well, LCC currently boasts two former Mavs in the NFL, with lineman Joe Toledo (2000) on the San Francisco 49’ers and Kevin O’Connell (2003) a 2008 rookie quarterback with the New England Patriots.

As we approach this Friday’s “Beach Bowl” showdown and the 35th edition of the district’s North-South rivalry, the Mavericks look to continue their new-found dominance (see 2007: 30-0) in the SDUHSD and retain custody of the Golden Surfboard trophy that goes to the winning team for another year!

 No. 10 La Costa Canyon at No. 4 Oceanside

Kickoff: 7 p.m.

Radio: 1090 AM

Records: La Costa Canyon 5-2, 2-0; Oceanside 5-1-1, 1-0

Last meeting: In 2010, Oceanside won 38-14.

At a glance: La Costa Canyon has won four in a row, outscoring opponents 141-15. Isaac Maquet (583 yards) and Deon Dickey (374 yards) lead the ground attack. QB Jake Sesti has completed 43-of-74 passes for 837 yards and eight TDs. ... Oceanside has outscored its opponents 169-90. QB Tofi Paopao has completed 61-of-108 passes for 797 yards and has thrown just one interception. RBsRyshaud Keegan (353 yards) and Thai Cottrell (308 yards) are the op rushers. The Pirates have found ways to win games with defense and special teams.

Prediction: Oceanside 24, La Costa Canyon 21

Read John Maffei's full North County Times prep preview article here.

The San Clemente Tritons showed why they are one of southern california's best, gaining nearly 500 yards in offense against La Costa Canyon in Friday's non league matchup. LCC runningback Isaac Maquet finished with 82 yards rushing and a touchdown on 17 carries. The Mavericks (1-2) will face Redlands next week.

La Costa Canyon, who fell to a good Poway team a week ago, faces a tough test against the San Clemente Tritons. The Tritons have a bunch of athletes and solid coaching, which is why they are ranked #5 in Orange County. Should La Costa pull out with a "W," this would be an impressive victory for North County against the Southern Section. It won't be easy. See the video highlights from last year's game here.

Here is the preview capsule from the North County Times.

No. 9 La Costa Canyon at San Clemente

• Records: La Costa Canyon 1-1; San Clemente 2-0

• Kickoff: 7 p.m.

• Last meeting: In 2010, San Clemente won 28-21.

• At a glance: La Costa Canyon gave up two touchdown in the final nine minutes in a 28-14 loss to Poway last week. ... Junior quarterback Jake Sesti has been solid in his first two games, going 19-for-34 for 388 yards. ... San Clemente, which has outscored its first two opponents, 78-16, and is ranked No. 5 by the Orange County Register, returns quarterback Travis Wilson who threw for 314 yards in last year's win over the Mavericks.

• Prediction: San Clemente 35, La Costa Canyon 17
•  

— Tom Sheridan

Tonight's game is in question after transportation issues have arisen for the Poway Titans due to the county-wide power outage on Thursday evening and early Friday morning. The power outage has disrupted many businesses and community events, including Prep Football.

UPDATE @ 12:30PM - The game is ON and will be played tonight at La Costa Canyon stadium

Football is back!

La Costa Canyon kicks off its 2011 campaign, and year 2 of Sovacool's tenure, vs. Hungtington Beach Marina.

Here is the North County Times game preview...

Huntington Beach Marina at No. 5 La Costa Canyon
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
Last meeting: Never played
At a glance: La Costa Canyon was 7-5 last season, the first for coach Sean Sovacool. ... The Mavericks have eight returning starters, including Michigan-bound left tackle Erik Magnuson and four starting receivers. Slotback Corbin de Waal is the top returner with 30 catches for 319 yards. ... Marina was 3-7 last year.
Prediction: La Costa Canyon 21, Marina 14

— Terry Monahan

For La Costa Canyon and Oceanside, its do or die in tonight's second round CIF playoff matchup as the Mavericks will travel to the new home of the Pirates and clash, with a CIF semifinal birth on the line.

For a program with a brand new coach, coming into the year, many might of considered La Costa Canyon's chances of making a deep run into the playoffs a longshot. Many called it a "rebuilding year." Skeptics claimed coach Sean Sovacool was too young, and too adolescent in his coaching career to field a serious competitor his rookie season.

Here's reality: the Mavericks could easily be 9-1, but that doesn't matter. What matters is tonight they look to dethrone the controlling death grip Oceanside has held on DII football for years. The Mavericks are not only competing for a win, but competing for every other team in DII who has succumb to Oceanside coach John Carroll's excellence in the past 10 years.

Credit to the Pirate coaches, players, and fans, but its time for a change. This has not been a normal "run the table" year for Oceanside, who has won an astonishing 6 straight CIF championships... their last playoff loss in 2003 to Monte Vista.

The Mavericks carry the momentum after upsetting after three straight wins against El Camino, #5 Torrey Pines, and Hilltop in the playoff opener. LCC's last defeat came at the hands of the Oceanside Pirates, a 38-14 chippy grudge match. Both teams played sloppy, and LCC had numerous penalties and stupid turnovers.

While longtime North County fans might give Oceanside the auto nod to advance into the semifinals, they face a big test in contatining LCC quarterback Garrett Krstich, who has arrived as arguably the county's best quarterback, throwing for a county leading 24 touchdowns.

La Costa's offensive has been explosive since their win over Torrey Pines. The line is blocking well and LCC has shredded opposing defenses in past weeks. A group of wide receivers: Jake Jackson, Corbin De Waal, Frankie Wims, and Nick Frausto have stepped up and made plays in high pressure circumstances.

For the Mavericks, tonight's game will come down to a couple things: the defense's ability to consistently shutdown the short passes and force turnovers, and La Costa Canyon o-line's ability to protect Krstich and allow him to gun the ball down field to his receivers.

La Costa will try to establish a rushing presence with Erick Nelson and Isaac Maquet. They have to gain some yards to control the clock and keep Oceanside's explosive offense weapons - QB Tofi Pao Pao and RB Anthony Mount - off the field.

This will not be a methodical game for either team; it will come down to who hits harder, protects the ball better, and wants the victory more.

Prediction: La Cost Canyona 31 - Oceanside 28

La Costa Canyon's offense and defense fired on all cylinders as the Mavericks hosted the Hilltop Lancers in the first round of the Division II CIF playoffs and won 35-13. LCC quarterback Garrett Krstich was hyper efficient, connecting on 10 of 11 passes for 191 yards and 3 touchdowns. Offensively, WR Corbin De Wall led all receivers with 67 yards and 2 touchdowns. Running back Isaac Maquet also found the endzone 2 times, rushing for 65 yards.

The La Costa Canyon defense was phenomenal and pressured Hilltop quarterback Omar Hernandez all night. Rarely did he have a chance to get a pass off without Ian Seau, Erik Nelson, Wade Bartholme, or Spenser Laughter in his face causing problems and forcing rushed throws. The defensive unit held to Lancers' rushing game to -6 rushing yards. Yes that's right, -6 rushing yards. The Lancers only gained 81 total yards on the night. Gang Green's speed and athleticism clearly created challenges for the undermatched Lancers from Chula Vista.

Redemption will be the name of the game next week in the 2nd round, as LCC has a chance to get revenge against the Oceanside Pirates, who embarrassed La Costa on their home turf in week 7 of the regular season.

The Mavericks are playing well right now and Oceanside lost their final game against El Camino, and have had a week off to think about it. Oceanside skipper John Carroll was at the game last night and will surely have his troops ready for battle. Expect a fantastic North County playoff battle in Oceanside in round 2.