LCC climbs atop Palomar

By: SCOTT BAIR - Staff Writer | Friday, November 10, 2006 12:01 AM PST ∞

La Costa Canyon High School's Kort Gibson is tackled by Torrey Pines High School's Tom Cutting, after a nice gain in the first half of the big game at Torrey Pines Thursday night.
JAMIE SCOTT LYTLE Staff Photographer
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CARMEL VALLEY ---- Stanley Paul stood in the middle of the crowd, his voice barely audible above the chants and screams. La Costa Canyon High students and football players ran formed a monstrous huddle on the field Thursday night, celebrating the Mavericks' 29-13 upset of top-ranked Torrey Pines.

The senior transfer who spent the three previous years at Santa Fe Christian, stood in awe of his surroundings, unsure of how to join the frenetic celebration.

"Never in my life have I experienced anything like this," Paul said. "This is crazy."

Don't worry, Stanley. You're not alone.

La Costa Canyon defeated the rival Falcons for just the second time in 14 meetings, the last of which came in 2004. Paul and his teammates are the first group to know the euphoria that comes with winning the Palomar League.

The Mavericks (8-2, 5-0) sealed the championship with an all-around dominant performance. They held Torrey Pines (9-1, 4-1), an offense that averaged 38.7 points per game previously, to two touchdowns.

The Mavericks recovered two fumbles, blocked a punt, recorded a safety and kept Falcons quarterback Blake Vanderwiel under constant pressure.

"The defense played an outstanding game," La Costa Canyon coach Darrin Brown said. "The coaches came up with a terrific game plan, and the players executed it nearly to perfection."

Nick Witzmann, Stedman Slaughter and Glenn Rauscher kept Torrey Pines' proficient rushing attack at bay, especially during the first half. The Mavericks held Torrey Pines to just two first downs while the offense scored 14 unanswered points in the first half. Mavericks quarterback Jose Mohler concluded two second-quarter drives with touchdown runs to establish the early lead.

Mohler, who seems to improve his reads with every week, was spot-on against Torrey Pines. He completed 9-of-15 passes for 132 yards.

Paul, however, was the catalyst. He caught three passes for 49 yards, had nine carries for 34 yards and was involved in a number of key pass break-ups from the quarterback position.

The Falcons didn't have an answer for anything La Costa Canyon did. Vanderwiel led the offense with 115 total yards and a rushing touchdown, but it wasn't enough to keep up with Mohler, Paul and the Mavericks.

"We simply got outplayed tonight," Falcons coach Ed Burke said. "They seemed to want it more, and that's my responsibility for not getting the guys ready to go."

The Mavericks have been outplaying all opponents in recent weeks. They have outscored the opposition 187-44 during the Palomar League season and seem to be peaking as they head into the postseason.

"We've been on quite a roll lately," Mohler said. "Over the last few weeks, we've been playing like champions."

Contact staff writer Scott Bair at (760) 739-6642 or sbair@nctimes.com.



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