CATHEDRAL’S WING-T TOO MUCH FOR CARLSBAD

Three weeks in a row, the Carlsbad High football team faced Wing-T offenses.

Twice, the Lancers’ defense dominated, holding Vista to six points in the regular-season finale and Torrey Pines to seven in the San Diego Section Open Division playoff semifinals.

Saturday night in the Open Division championship game, before a standingroom-only crowd of about 6,500 at Escondido High, the Lancers met their match, losing 48-19 to Cathedral Catholic, a near-perfect Wing-T team.

“Carlsbad was shooting the gaps super hard,” said Cathedral running back Lucky

Cathedral Catholic 48, Carlsbad 19

Sutton. “They’re a good team, a very aggressive team, so we expected them to get after it.”

And the Lancers did just that in the first half, holding Sutton to 80 yards on six carries with 58 of those yards coming on his first carry. The Lancers were very much in the game at the break, trailing 21-6.

The second half was a different story.

On the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, Sutton blew up the middle, pulling away from the defense for an 88-yard TD.

After Carlsbad answered with a score, Sutton took off up the middle again, going 77 yards to the end zone.

“We made some adjustments,” Sutton said.

The adjustments were simple, but so effective.

“All we did was move the belly from the A gap to the B gap,” said Cathedral coach Sean Doyle. “Carlsbad was playing extremely hard, very prepared. So we had to make some changes.”

In 11 games this season, Sutton has 173 carries for 1,939 yards and 29 TDs.

His 269 yards were just short of his career best of 272 against rival St. Augustine.

He has at least 92 yards in every game this season with a trio of 200-yard games.

“My personal goal before the season was to get to 2,000 yards,” Sutton said. “As a team we want a state championship. So I’ve got two more games to get there.”

The Dons, who are 10-2, including a forfeit win over Lincoln, have to wait until next week to find out their opponent and division for the Southern California championships.

In the San Diego Section, only division champions advance, so Carlsbad’s season ends at 11-1.

“They’re as advertised,” Carlsbad coach Thadd MacNeal said of Cathedral. “They’re super physical. They play really hard. They’re a disciplined team.

“You have to be at your best against them. We weren’t, but give them credit. They’re a fantastic team.”