By Craig at 619Sports.net
It’s not often you get a playmaker as talented as Kenny Stills into your program, so La Costa Canyon (5-0) is doing whatever it takes to get Stills the ball. The senior wide receiver also lined up at running back and quarterback during a 38-14 bruising of Rancho Buena Vista (1-2-1) on the LCC campus Friday night. Stills finished with 5 catches for 132 yards and a touchdown, while running out of the “Gator” formation twice for 21 yards. That’s Gator, as in Tim Tebow, as in the defending national champs who would very much like to see Stills in Tallahassee next year.
Not only is Stills multi-talented, but he is coveted by most of the top college programs in the country. Florida, Oklahoma, USC, Cal, and Penn State are all knocking down Stills’ door hoping to catch his eye. As a nod to his receiver’s brilliance, Stills told 619 Sports after the game that many of the formations the Mavericks use are named after the different schools seeking his services next year:
Hear more from Kenny Stills and LCC head coach Darrin Brown after the jump:Rancho Buena Vista actually started the game running the ball well, but the Longhorns were victims of their own mistakes all night long. A pair of botched shotgun snaps snuffed out a long, promising drive to open the game, and a pair of second-quarter fumbles, one on yet another bad snap, both were recovered by LCC.
Late in the first quarter, head coach Darrin Brown went to a hurry-up offense that delivered the game’s first touchdown on a 5 play, 43 yard drive. Seth Hanson punched in a 6-yard scoring run to make it 7-0 LCC. A bit later in the quarter, after Mavs’ linebacker Tucker Toolson recovered a high snap fumbled by RBV quarterback Willy Castillo, LCC marched a short field again. A 45-yard drive was capped with Westin Manor’s 2-yard touchdown plunge.
Coach Brown was pleased with his team’s overall effort on the night:
The signature play of the game was delivered by Stills with less than three minutes remaining in the first half. Facing a first-and-25 from their own 27, Mavericks’ QB Garrett Krstich hit Stills on a simple crossing route about 8 yards downfield. Stills then made a sharp cut upfield between two defenders, and scampered 73 yards for the touchdown.
Coach Brown on Stills’ great play:
Life is pretty good right now if you’re Kenny Stills. Tall and growing, young and talented, and coveted by most of the best teams in college football. The BMOC has found little to complain about:
The Longhorns, meanwhile, played with heavy hearts, after most of the team went to the memorial on Friday morning of one of their former players from 2007 and 2008. Michael Pyper was killed in an auto accident last Friday night coming home from the RBV game. It was a tough week for the kids according to the coaching staff, but to their credit the team kept playing late in the game, scoring two touchdowns against the LCC third team to make a 38-0 score more respectable at 38-14.
In a North County packed with top teams, the balanced Mavericks look primed for a deep run in the division playoffs, with hopes of a state bowl invite. Coach Brown won’t even think past the Mission Hills game. Stills, meanwhile, still thinks that LCC has some room to grow:
–Courtesy of 619Sports.net
