Wildcats Hold Off Carlsbad

El Camino Coach Herb Meyer tried all week to tell his players that Carlsbad had improved since it lost by 34 points to the Wildcats early in the season.

Meyer never quite sold his team on the idea, and it almost cost the Wildcats an opportunity to win their fourth consecutive San Diego Section 2-A title.

But El Camino withstood four second-half turnovers, three by Bryant Westbrook, to gain a 14-7 victory over Carlsbad on Friday night in the semifinals at Vista High.

“We told them at practice that Carlsbad was a better team, but all the people told them at school was they were playing in the (San Diego Jack Murphy) Stadium next week,” Meyer said. “They didn’t want to talk about tonight’s game.”

There wasn’t much positive to talk about for El Camino, which was confused offensively and defensively and hardly played like it a team on track to the win the title.

“If that’s the best we can play, it doesn’t matter who we play,” Meyer said. “We’re done.”

The Wildcats (12-1) will play either San Pasqual or Torrey Pines next Saturday for the title. Both teams have to be encouraged by what they’ve seen the past two weeks. El Camino barely escaped last week with a 24-14 victory over Kearny, needing a questionable referee’s call to turn the game around.

“We haven’t played well the last three weeks,” Meyer said. “Our guys thought that was the end of the world. They’ve just cruised from there.”

They almost cruised right out of the playoffs by giving an emotional Carlsbad team four opportunities to score in the second half.

The Lancers (6-7) controlled the ball in the first half with an effective option game led by quarterback Shane Cartwright and halfback Matt Olney. But their two best drives stalled at El Camino’s 35- and 29-yard lines. Kicker Shana Sarsilmaz’s 46-yard field goal attempt fell inches short with eight minutes left in the half.

El Camino scored with 2:24 left in the first half on a 16-yard run by halfback Mike Flanagan on an inside reverse. Mike Booker dropped quarterback Trey Crayton’s pass in the end zone on the conversion.

The Wildcats were driving again when mass confusion hit their offense on Carlsbad’s 12-yard line. A nine-yard sack and two incomplete passes were caused, in part, by players lining up in wrong formations. On the last play of the half, Crayton’s lob toward the goal line was picked off by David Corona and returned to midfield. Only Buddy Brown’s diving tackle saved El Camino from trailing at halftime.

“We played like a first game, or maybe a scrimmage,” Meyer said.

Westbrook fumbled in the third quarter, and Carlsbad capitalized on five plays, Olney (79 yards on 13 carries) capping the 30-yard drive on a two-yard run.

El Camino took back the lead eight plays later when Crayton found tight end Prescott Unutoa alone for a touchdown from 22 yards after faking a reverse to Westbrook. Crayton scooted around left end for the two-point conversion.

Westbrook, a two-time Times All-County selection, fumbled twice in the fourth quarter and Flanagan fumbled once. But on the Lancers’ only serious threat, an illegal procedure call on fourth down and inches stopped a Carlsbad drive inside the Wildcat 20.

“It was a great game,” Carlsbad Coach Rick Brown said. “I’m so proud of our kids. We came so far.”