Carlsbad Defeats Santa Fe Christian 21-13 in Open Division semifinal

Rain and a relentless second-half ground game carried the Carlsbad High School football team past Santa Fe Christian 21-13 on Friday night in a San Diego Section Open Division semifinal.

The win sends the top-seeded Lancers to their second straight championship game. They will face No. 2-seeded Cathedral Catholic next Saturday night at Southwestern College.

For Santa Fe Christian, the loss brings a 10-1 season to a close. The fourth-seeded school, with an enrollment of 400 high school students, pushed the favorite to the final minutes.

Senior running back Darian Webb provided the offensive difference for Carlsbad. He carried the ball 26 times for 175 yards and scored three touchdowns on runs of 10, 4, and 1 yard, bringing his season totals to 1,965 rushing yards and 26 scores.

“He’s hard to tackle,” Santa Fe Christian coach Jon Wallace said.

Santa Fe Christian drew first blood on its second possession. Quarterback Dax Labrum connected with tight end Tanner Massey on a 5-yard touchdown pass to cap a 43-yard drive. That score followed a defensive stand where the Santa Fe Christian defense stopped Webb twice for no gain, forcing a turnover on downs.

Carlsbad missed a subsequent field goal attempt, but the defense held, forcing a punt. The Lancers then responded with a 70-yard, seven-play drive that ended with Webb’s 10-yard scoring run.

Neither team scored in the final 3:20 of the first half, leaving the game tied 7-7. Webb managed just 41 yards on eight carries before the break.

Carlsbad Cheer Team getting ready for playoff game against Santa Fe Christian — CBS 8 San Diego

“Our plan was to try and wear them down,” Webb said. “They did a great job, tackled well. But we thought the second half would be ours. We come into every game thinking we can wear the other team down. This was no different.”

Webb gained 134 of his yards and scored two of his touchdowns after the intermission. His only turnover came in the fourth quarter on a fumble forced by Brett Vermillion and recovered by Brady Berg.

Santa Fe Christian capitalized on that momentum later in the fourth quarter. Labrum engineered a 62-yard, 12-play drive, capped by an 8-yard touchdown pass to Brodie Stuart with 6:04 remaining to cut Carlsbad’s lead to 14-13.

Wallace chose to forgo the tying extra point and attempted a two-point conversion. The pass to the front right corner of the end zone sailed wide.

“We had the game in our hands and decided to go for it,” Wallace said. “No reason to come here and not try to win. I’d do it again.”

Carlsbad quarterback Antonio D’Allesandro completed 11 of 13 passes for 104 yards and ran three times for 7 yards. For Santa Fe Christian, Berg rushed 14 times for 74 yards, Stuart added 24 yards on seven carries, and Labrum completed 12 of 28 passes for 131 yards with one interception by Tanner Massey.

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