SAN MARCOS — Down by four points with 6:42 to play, Carlsbad High School put together a drive befitting a team ranked No. 2 in the county.

The Lancers drove 80 yards in nine plays with Darian Webb plowing in from 2 yards out with 1:11 to play, securing a 31-28 Avocado League West victory over No. 9 San Marcos.

“We practice that a lot,” Carlsbad quarterback Eli MacNeal said of the final drive. “It’s those kinds of drives that really make the game  fun. San Marcos brought a lot of pressure and I had to use my speed to escape. San Marcos is good, but we had a lot of fight left in us on that last drive.”

Taking over at its 20, Carlsbad’s Webb had runs of 16 and 11 on back-to-back carries to get the ball out near midfield.

MacNeal hit Ethan Meyerhoff for 21 yards and again for 11 to get the ball to the San Marcos 10.

Webb then carried 10 yards to the 2 before scoring the go-ahead TD.

San Marcos started its final drive on the 22 and a deep ball by Kreet Makihele appeared to be a pass interference, but it wasn’t called.

Makihele was sacked on the next play by Ashawn Cranford.

And a long gainer was wiped out by a late holding call.

San Marcos tried a flea flicker on its last-gasp play, but it was sniffed out by the Carlsbad defense.

San Marcos opened the game with a ball-control, 11-play, 84-yard drive with Makihele hitting Cutter Vorhees with a 19-yard

touchdown pass. The drive ate up 7 minutes and 29 seconds.

The Knights pushed the advantage to 14-0 when MacNeal was sacked and fumbled. Vorhees scooped up the loose ball and raced 61 yards untouched for the score.

Carlsbad (8-0, 2-0) answered with a MacNeal-to-Travis Jeffery 29-yard scoring pass into the far corner of the end zone.

After forcing a punt, Carlsbad went 70 yards on six plays with Darian Webb making a nice over-the-shoulder catch of a MacNeal pass from 34 yards out.

“We didn’t have the ball hardly at all in the first quarter,” said Carlsbad coach Thadd MacNeal. “Then they get a sack and TD. I am so proud of the way we hung in, especially on that last drive. San Marcos (5-3, 0-2) played a great game. They had a great game plan.”

Eli MacNeal had a big game, completing 12 of 17 passes for 232 yards and a pair of TDs. Ethan Meyerhoff had six catches for 129 yards.

The Lancers also rushed 38 times for 196 with Webb finishing with 68 yards on 11 carries and Kai Brown carrying 21 times for 106 yards.

Reese rushed 14 times for 100 yards for San Marcos. Plus, he had two catches for 26 yards.

Makihele was 9 of 11 passing for 136 yards and TD strikes of 19 and 15 yards to Voorhees, who finished with three catches for 54  yards.

Carlsbad 31, San Marcos 28

Carlsbad  0   14    7   10 – 31

San Marcos  7     7   7      7 – 28

SM – Vorhees 19 pass from Makihele (Hackett kick)

SM – Vorhees 61 fumble return (Hackett kick)

C – Jeffery 29 from MacNeal (Filippini kick)

C – Webb 34 pass from MacNeal (Filippini kick)

SM – Brown 2 run (Hackett kick)

SM – Reese 19 run (Hackett  kick)

C – FG Filippini 35

SM – Vorhees 15 pass from Makihele (Hackett kick)

C – Webb 2 run (Filippini kick)