Carlsbad Knocks Off Another O.C. Team

CARLSBAD —  Now Laguna Hills knows what Santa Margarita already knew--that Carlsbad High has a pretty good football team.

Carlsbad didn’t even need its best player, fullback Pana Faumuina, to destroy Laguna Hills, 35-7, Friday night before 3,500 at Carlsbad. Faumuina, a 6-foot, 245-pound bull who has committed to California, missed the game with a hip pointer. But tailback Chad Rodgers stepped in and dashed his way through Laguna Hills’ leaky defense for 193 yards and a touchdown.

“I guess there’s a reason they’re ranked seventh in the state,” Laguna Hills Coach Bruce Ingalls said. “They’ve got fantastic strength and tremendous speed. They’re a little too much for us.”

Ingalls found it hard to believe that his team actually beat Carlsbad last year.

“They’ve got basically the same team,” he said. “I guess they’ve matured.”

Laguna Hills (2-2) didn’t score until Brandon Champlin hit Jay Dale on a 45-yard pass play with five minutes left in the game. The Hawks didn’t cross midfield until a minute before that. In the first half, Carlsbad outgained Laguna Hills, 263 to four. Rodgers rushed for 113 yards in 11 carries and quarterback Brian Gutierrez passed for 57 yards and two touchdowns.

“When you can’t block them and you can’t tackle them, you’re not going to do too well,” Ingalls said. “I guess the silver lining is that we held them to 35. They’ve been averaging over 40.”

Carlsbad served notice early that it was going to be a long night for Laguna Hills. Rogers bolted 40 yards around right end on the first play from scrimmage. Eight plays later, Lawrence Letuli strolled into the end zone from three yards out.

Gutierrez threw touchdown passes of 25 and 13 yards to John Waardenburg and Enrique Gallardo to give Carlsbad a 21-0 halftime lead. It would have been worse, but Gutierrez fumbled a snap at Laguna Hills’ nine-yard line in the final minute and the Hawks’ Ryan Kiley recovered.

Laguna Hills’ offense never got started, mainly because it never got out of its own backfield. Champlain had two or three defensive lineman and linebacker Brandon Chillar in his face every time he dropped back to pass. Laguna Hills’ running backs didn’t have it any easier. Ryan Capdevielle had negative yardage until his 10th carry. He finished with 14 yards in 12 carries.

Carlsbad, the top-ranked team in San Diego County, improved to 4-0, 2-0 against Orange County teams. It trounced Santa Margarita, 40-20, two weeks ago.