Carlsbad CA— It was Homecoming night in Carlsbad as the Lancers hosted the Oceanside Pirates on Friday. The Pirates and Lancers were both coming off a bye-week which was preceded by losses, Carlsbad to cross-town rival, La Costa Canyon, 21-0 and Oceanside falling to Mission Hills, 42-25 but the Pirates didn’t look rusty on their opening drive.
Oceanside went 56 yards in 3 plays with the bulk of the yardage coming after Max Shuffer hit Julian Hicks short, in the flat, and Hicks took it the distance for the score. Gerardi’s PAT was good; 7-0 with 1:05 gone in the first quarter.
The Lancers got on the board next driving down to the Oceanside 29 yard-line, in 13 plays, before the drive stalled and they settled for a Seth Ketterrer 39 yard field goal.
After an Oceanside three and out, the Lancers were again able to move the ball down the field driving down to the Pirates 11 yard-line. The Oceanside defense stiffened forcing another Ketterrer field goal attempt which was good from 22 yards. However, there was a personal foul, during the attempt, on the Pirates, roughing the center. Carlsbad took the points off the board and the Lancers had a fresh set of downs inside the Oceanside 8 yard-line. Carlsbad drove 7 yards and 10 inches in three plays setting up 4th and goal at the 2 inch line. The Pirates defensive line push stuffed the Lancers and Oceanside took over on downs.
The two teams traded punts several times until late in the second quarter. Carlsbad was driving at mid-field when Azizi Hearn picked off Isiah Ramos at the Oceanside 35 and returned the ball to the Carlsbad 14 yard-line. A holding call on the return had Oceanside starting their drive from the 49 yard-line the with 1:41 left in the first half.
Max Shuffer hit Jake Gerardi three times including the final play of the 9 play drive, a touchdown in the left corner of the end zone to give the Pirates a 14-3 lead at intermission.
Oceanside was able to capitalize on another Lancer turnover on the opening drive of the second half. Jake Gerardi recovered a fumble at the Carlsbad 31 yard-line. Oceanside covered the distance in six plays capped by a Shuffer to Kyrin Beachem TD pass giving Oceanside a 21-3 lead.
After that, the Oceanside offense was unable to sustain a drive the rest of the game. In the fourth quarter, the Lancers mounted a comeback scoring 13 unanswered points. Ramos hit Jakob Gomez on a 25-yard touchdown and a 38-yard strike to Jeremy Cooper had Carlsbad down 16-21 with 4:44 left in the game. That is where the score remained giving Carlsbad their third straight loss, 1-5 on the season.
Next week, the Lancers will travel to San Marcos (4-2), a 38-31 winner over Torrey Pines who will travel to Oceanside to take on the 5-1 Pirates.
In other North County action:
El Camino improved to 3-3 with a win over La Costa Canyon (3-3) 34-23.
Mission Hills (4-2) lost their second straight falling to the undefeated Broncos of Ranch Bernardo 34-20.
Vista (3-3) shut out Del Norte (3-3) 24-0.
Rancho Buena Vista (2-5) fell to Valley Center (5-1) 28-14
Fallbrook (1-6) fell to Escondido (2-5) 27-13
Army-Navy (1-6) lost at home to Francis-Parker (2-5) 42-35