For the second year in a row, the Carlsbad Lancers finished as one of the top teams in the regular season in the San Diego Section. For the second year in a row, the Lancers have been denied the section’s Open Division championship.
The Lincoln Hornets stung a seemingly invincible Carlsbad team last year in the Open Division championship game, winning 28-24 in dramatic come-from- behind fashion.
This year it was the Granite Hills Eagles who delivered the knockout blow with a thrilling 46-45 overtime win on Nov. 9 on a walk-off two-point conversion in the division semifinals.
The Eagles (11-0) will play the top-seeded Lincoln Hornets (11-0) in Saturday’s Open Division championship game at Snapdragon Stadium. Kick-off is 7 p.m.
The stakes were high for all four teams in this year’s Open Division semifinals, but especially so for Granite Hills and Carlsbad, both of which were sporting undefeated 10-0 records.
The semifinal game was played in front of 4,000 fans. The attendance will likely top that Saturday.
“Making the Open Division finals is a huge accomplishment,” Granite Hills head coach Kellan Cobbs said. “Our kids worked hard all year and really stepped up in a semifinals game. They played (well) when they needed to. We are playing a great opponent in Lincoln. We will need to be at our best in order to win.” It took everything the Eagles had in their playbook in the semifinals.
Granite Hills scored via the running game on four of its first five possessions, needing 80 yards to score on three of those drives. Granite Hills led, 28-21, at halftime but Carlsbad responded by scoring 17 of the next 20 points to open the second half, in the process taking a 38-31 lead on the scoreboard.
The Eagles, led by freshman quarterback Zachary Benitez, relied on the strength of their run game to prevail over the Lancers (10-1). Juniors Pablo Jackson (27 carries, 104 yards) and Max Turner (129 carries, 101 yards) combined to score five of their team’s six touchdowns.
Turner scored three rushing touchdowns while Jackson had two as the tandem terror combined for 205 of the team’s 209 rushing yards in the high-profile game. Turner scored from five yards out late in the first half to put the East County visitors up by seven points. He took a direct snap and scored from one yard out with 20 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.
Benitez, who completed 20 touchdown passes against just two interceptions during the regular season, was ready when his turn came up. He threw a seven-yard TD pass to senior Josh Zander on a critical fourth down play to net six points for the Eagles in overtime. Jackson scored on the ensuing two-point conversion for the game-winning points.
Benitez finished the game 24-of-33 for 229 yards and one overtime touchdown. Junior Brenden Lewis caught 14 passes for 154 yards during regulation.
The Open Division champion advances to the state playoffs.
