Mission Hills outlasted La Costa Canyon 35-34 on Friday to remain unbeaten, hand the Mavericks their first loss, and entrench itself in the Avocado League football title race.
Every single score of the game followed the pattern of Mission Hills scoring seven points and La Costa Canyon tying it up with seven of its own. The Grizzlies never trailed, and they cemented the game with 32.7 seconds left by stopping a two-point conversion and recovering the onside kick attempt.
It was a strong performance from 4-star Penn State commit and Mission Hills senior QB Troy Huhn with James Franklin – his future Nittany Lions head coach – in attendance.
Scroll down for the pregame overview followed by scoring and updates from the game in order.
Pregame
The Avocado League is even deeper than usual in 2025 and is loaded with legitimate contenders, but with No. 22 Mission Hills and No. 24 La Costa Canyon both off to brilliant 5-0 starts, it's hard to tell if there are even 20 teams in California that can beat them. Whichever team wins this tossup can't afford to sleepwalk through the rest of conference play but will be in fantastic position to complete an undefeated regular season. Bring your popcorn.
Final score, updates
Mission Hills wins 35-34.
FOURTH QUARTER:
0:32.7 – Mission Hills 35, La Costa Canyon 34: Mission Hills recovers the onside kick attempt and will kneel out the clock.
4:34 – Mission Hills 35, La Costa Canyon 28
11:50 – Mission Hills 28, La Costa Canyon 28
THIRD QUARTER:
1:09: Mission Hills 28, La Costa Canyon 21
EARLY Q3: Mission Hills 21, La Costa Canyon 21
SECOND QUARTER:
Mission Hills leads 21-14 at halftime.
1:00 – Mission Hills 21, La Costa Canyon 14: The Grizzlies go back up a touchdown on a dime through the defense from Troy Huhn to what looked like Myzael Quakenbush.
4:46 – Mission Hills 14, La Costa Canyon 14
10:04 – Mission Hills 14, La Costa Canyon 7: The Grizzlies retake the lead on a short rushing touchdown.
FIRST QUARTER:
1ST QUARTER – Mission Hills 7, La Costa Canyon 7
7:29: The game has been stopped for a long time on an injury timeout that appears to be for a Mission Hills player.
8:22 – Mission Hills 7, La Costa Canyon 0