Despite bizarre first half, La Costa Canyon rolls past San Marcos

It was one of the more bizarre halves of football in recent memory.

In a home game held Sept. 16 for first place Avocado League between San Marcos and No. 10-ranked La Costa Canyon, there were eight penalties, an end-around pass for a touchdown, a blocked punt, a safety, a kickoff return for a score, an interception for a TD, a fumble recovery in the end zone for a score, seven quarterback sacks and two blocked field goals.

In the end, high-flying San Marcos made too many mistakes and fell 30-7 to the Mavericks (3-2, 2-0).

“A little bit of offense, great defense and special teams that came up huge,” said LCC coach Sean Sovacool. “There was a lot of talk before the game, a lot of chatter on social media. We came out and played football.”

The La Costa Canyon defense held San Marcos (3-2, 1-1) to 34 rushing yards on 30 carries.

San Marcos quarterback Kreet Makihele, who had thrown for 1,400 yards completed 5 of 11 passes for 12 yards, was sacked seven times and didn’t play the second half with what is believed to be a minor injury.

The Knights didn’t throw a pass in the second half as Garrett Stuhlmiller took the snaps.

To open the game, Alexander Gonzalez recovered a San Marcos fumble and LCC opened the scoring on an end-around pass from Trevor Ladd to Jake Fromme for 22 yards.

Three false-start penalties backed San Marcos up to its 9 and after a short punt, Andrew Maes scooted 22 yards for a TD.

LCC’s Cooper Mau blocked a San Marcos punt, with the ball rolling out of the end zone for a safety. And Maes returned the ensuing free kick 67 yards for a score, making in 23-0 LCC.

San Marcos got back in the game when Cayden Woodwine returned an interception 52 yards for a TD, but LCC’s Ben Brandreth sacked Makihele and Trey Blazevich recovered in the end zone.

LCC hasn’t allowed an offensive touchdown in the last two games.

“Our defense plays fast, plays aggressive and everyone knows his role,” said linebacker EJ Brandreth, who had a pair of sacks along with Trey Blazevich and Ryan Stonebreaker.

“We knew San Marcos was going to throw the ball, so we had to support each other. It’s really nice when everything comes together.”

LCC had just 121 yards total offense in the game with Maes rushing for 76 yards on 14 carries and scoring on a run and a return.

“We had something to prove tonight,” said Brandreth, a transfer from San Dieguito Academy, a school that doesn’t play football. “We had to play with heart. The offense gave us just enough, we made some plays on special teams. And the defense played great.”

Of San Marcos’ 41 plays, 18 went for two yards of fewer with 11 of those for losses.

La Costa Canyon 30, San Marcos 7

San Marcos 0 7 0 0 — 7

La Costa Canyon 23 7 0 0 — 30

LCC — Fromme 22 pass from Ladd (Robles kick)

LCC — Maes 22 run (Robles kick)

LCC — Safety, punt blocked out of end zone

LCC — Maes 67 kickoff return (Robles kick)

SM — Woodwine 52 interception return (Rosenthal kick)

LCC — Blazevich recovered fumble in end zone (Robles kick)