The Vista Panthers football program has built a reputation for playing hard-nosed football. The Panthers headed into last night's first round playoff game against Otay Ranch sporting one of the most storied prep football programs in North County history, and they came out sticking true to their word, offering a suffocating performance by the "Blackshirt" defense. The Panthers left the field with a big goose egg, beating up on the Mustangs for a commanding 35-0 win.
So what happens when you pit a Blackshirt defense against a Gangrene defense? Luckily they don't have to actually face eachother on the field.
With their trumping of Otay Ranch, the Vista Panthers (7-4) are raising some eyebrows, and will advance to play the La Costa Canyon Mavericks in the second round of the playoffs, which is anticipated to be a classic battle between two of the county's most dominant defenses.
If you're a fan of big hits, form tackles, and blatant aggression, this second round game is just for you.
The 8-2 Avocado league champion Mavericks have made a statement all year with their domineering style of defensive play. Led by a pack of wild Mavericks including San Diego State-bound linebacker Jacob Driver, defensive end Michael Kaiser, and defensive back Connor Garrett, the La Costa Canyon defense is only allowing 15.1 points per game.
The Vista Panther defense, equally as stingy, is allowing only 15.5 points per game, and fields a variety of talented athletes including linebackers Patrick Lewis, Larry East, Ofisa Kose, and cornerback Jordan Alexander. Eight of Vista's Blackshirts are returning starters from last year's squad.
Some other notables - the Mavericks and Panthers, beat the 2-seed Escondido Cougars, accounting for their only 2 defeats on the season. Also, both teams challenged South Section powerhouse Mission Viejo and came out on the short end of the stick; La Costa Canyon fell 38-14 and Vista lost 42-20.
With this matchup of two great defenses who have produced virtually the same results, expect Vista vs. La Costa Canyon to be the county's game of the week in the second round of CIF playoff action.
Gangrene will bring the pain
Vista looking real good after big win last night vs. Otay Ranch. My prediction LCC 24 - Vista 20
Definitely best matchup in the county this week. Vista will not be a pushover. Their defense is playing well and their offensive can score. This might be a classic overtime north county playoff football game. My prediction: LCC 24 Vista 21. Lcc's kicker is pretty good.
Using Escondido as a point of comparison, Vista played Escondido much better than LCC did. Although there is much talk of the defenses, I think the keys to the game will come down to LCC's offensive line and Vista's D-line. If LCC's line can hold, LCC's qb can torch the Panther secondary with Stills. If not, I think LCC will have a tough time scoring, just as they did in their game early in the year against the south section teams