CARMEL VALLEY —— Torrey Pines High football coach Ed Burke called for one play on Friday night and his team heard another. Both calls were similar —— they included the hook-and-ladder —— but involved entirely different receiving routes.

It didn't matter.

Hunter Wanket still connected on a 6-yard pass to Michael Lambesis, who despite having a defender all over his back, made a picture-perfect pitch to a streaking Connor Bird, who caught the ball in stride and raced 38 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 3:55 left in the fourth quarter.

From there, the No. 1-seeded Falcons used their defense to stop La Costa Canyon and held on for a 16-12 victory in the quarterfinals of the CIF Division I playoffs at Falcons Stadium.

"I can't take any credit," Burke said. "We had a mistake in the huddle. The call was a mistake but the execution was correct. That's the luck of being Irish."

The win advances Torrey Pines (10-1) to a semifinal matchup with Vista, which knocked off host Rancho Bernardo 20-0. It also meant that for the second season in a row, La Costa Canyon (8-4) was knocked out of the playoffs by its biggest rival.

After the tough loss, La Costa Canyon coach Darrin Brown showered his players with praise for being able to stay in the game until the end despite having seven penalties called to the Falcons' one.

"I thought the refereeing was terrible," Brown said. "It was totally one-sided and our kids did an outstanding job to overcome a lot. They lost to a good football team but (the refs) will be embarrassed when the tape is reviewed."

Buoyed by a strong defensive effort, the Mavericks took a 12-9 lead with 6:14 to go in the game when Briton Forester made a 32-yard field goal.

But Bird had a 2-yard run followed by runs of 24 and 4 for Wanket to set up the trickery.

"I don't think they saw it coming," Bird said. "It caught them off guard."

La Costa Canyon's defense caught Torrey Pines by surprise on the game's very first possession. Michael Bethea intercepted a pass and returned it to the Falcons' 28.

Eight plays later, the Mavericks took a 7-0 lead as Cole Ducey scored on a quarterback sneak including fourth-and-goal from the 1.

The Falcons then answered with lengthy, consecutive possessions, but only came away with a pair of field goals by Bill Bennett to make it 7-6 at the half.

La Costa Canyon's defense struck once more as junior Nick Witzmann sacked Wanket for a safety and a 9-6 lead.

But Bennett answered again with a 34-yard field goal to tie the score with 11:08 left in the fourth quarter.

Contact staff writer Dan Hayes at (760) 739-6643 or dhayes@nctimes.com.