A year ago La Costa Canyon was celebrating an opportunity to advance to its first CIF finals appearance in school history. Mavericks head coach is not a greedy man, but today his Mavericks look to make it two straight, as the gang green and the red and black - the Vista Panthers - face off with a trip to Qualcomm on the line.
The winner will face either Escondido or Eastlake.
La Costa Canyon (11-0) has terrorized teams with its physical defensive play and dynamic offense, capable of throwing the long ball or pounding with the run game. The Mavericks completed their first ever undefeated regular season, led behind the leadership and vigor of Junior quarterback Garrett Krstich. Last week, he scored two TDs guiding La Costa Canyon to a quarterfinals victory over rival Torrey Pines. The victory increased the win streak to 21 straight games. Seth Hanson (injured last week but should play today) and Weston Manor stack the La Costa Canyon backfield. Hanson has rushed for 898 yards and 20 TDs. Hanson has gained 717 yards on the ground with 7 TDs.
Vista brings an aggressive defense and talented offensive backfield to the table.Vistas two losses were to Mission Viejo - a top team in the state - and Escondido - a team La Canyon beat. Vista beat Fallbrook last week to advance to this point. The Panthers biggest threat is runningback Jordan Alexander, who has 1,090 yards rushing with 13 TDs. One of the more intriguing statistics is Vista's susceptibility to penalties. Vista has been penalized 84 times for 701 yards. This may be their achilles heal in tonight's game as penalties slow momentum and kill a team's field position. In a tight playoff battle, the game can come down to which team starts out with the best field position.
La Costa knocked off Vista in the quarterfinals in 2008, beating the panthers handily 38-18. But that was last year, and in a playoff environment anything is possible.
The bottom line: Vista always comes out hitting hard and carries a ton of talent, but La Costa Canyon is even better than last year's squad, and can score on a moment's notice. La Costa Canyon will contain Jordan Alexander with their suffocating defensive line play led by Paul Quessenberry and Adam Witzmann. Expect a tight first quarter, and then La Costa Canyon to control the clock with Hanson and Manor, and to pull away in the second half with a couple big plays from Kenny Stills.
Prediction: La Costa Canyon 35 - Vista 14.
Take a look at last year's playoff game between LCC and Vista below:
