Dec. 14, 2002

There had not been a celebration of a football championship at Carlsbad High in almost four decades, and it didn't look like that drought would end in 2002.

The Lancers had earned their way to the CIF San Diego Section Division I championship game at Qualcomm Stadium, but on the other sideline stood a Vista team that seemed to hold a huge mental edge.

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The Panthers had shocked Carlsbad in the 2001 semifinals, scoring 10 points in the final 19 seconds to claim a 29-28 victory on their way to the section title. Making matters more imposing for the Lancers was that Vista had dominated the rematch of that game, routing Carlsbad 45-7 during the 2002 regular season.

"They wiped us out during the season," Carlsbad receiver Brett Swain said. "We thought we owed them one from the playoffs the year before, but after the first meeting it didn't look good."

An early season rash of injuries that forced Carlsbad to install sophomore Sean Canfield as its starting quarterback in Week 3 seemed to further dim the Lancers' championship prospects.

"I thought I would spend the year on JV and get another call-up for the playoffs like I did in '01," said Canfield, who now plays at Oregon State. "Everything after that Rancho Bernardo game during the season until the end was surreal.

"The year before, that Vista loss really hurt me and I didn't even play in the game. If you had told me in August that year that I would be the starting quarterback at the 'Q' that year, I would have laughed in your face."

Instead, the Lancers rallied, winning their final five regular season games and scoring 14 straight points in the championship game against Vista to claim a 14-13 victory for their first section championship since 1965.

"Maybe beating Vista in the stadium in '02 was a little bit of a payback for the year before," Carlsbad coach Bob McAllister said, laughing. "The football gods had to be working overtime to get us and Vista matched up again to make the payback fair."

Carlsbad scored all of its points during a span of 3 minutes, 17 seconds of the second quarter. Swain caught a slant pass from Canfield for a 42-yard TD for the Lancers' first score, and after the Lancers recovered a fumble at the Vista 18, J.C. Cooper made it 14-3 with a 2-yard scoring run. From there, Carlsbad held on.

"What a defensive battle," said Swain, who played at San Diego State and was a late roster cut by Green Bay Packers. "It all came down to our final game, and there was a big sigh of relief when it was over because a huge weight had been lifted off our shoulders, especially after what Vista did to us in the playoffs the year before.

"We played that game in 2002 differently than we did in 2001. We played hard until the final whistle.

"Those two games we played Vista in the playoffs was some of the best high school football ever played in this county."