King's Academy-Carmel football

 It's a familiar playoff opponent Carmel is preparing for, with a familiar football coach -- albeit from another program.

 The Padres have never lost to King's Academy in three previous meetings. Yet, they've never beaten a Pete Lavorato coached football team.

 Lavorato had a previous stint at Sacred Heart Prep, where he beat Carmel 39-32 in the 2010 Central Coast Section Division IV finals, and 46-26 in the 2016 Division IV playoffs.

 He's 3-0 as a coach lifetime against Carmel, including a 76-55 win in a 2015 non-league game.

 So something has to give Saturday when King's Academy makes the short drive to Westmont High to face the top seeded Padres in the Division V finals at 7 p.m.

 Westmont is the site of Carmel's first section title in 2009. It is also the venue of that loss to Sacred Heart Prep, when it was outscored 28-0 in the final 16 minutes.

 "We're familiar with the coach," Carmel coach Golden Anderson said. "The things he likes to do, his teams do very well. It's different personal. But it's on a similar level."

 The 12-0 Padres, who are making their fourth section finals appearance in 10 years, have outscored King's Academy 159-74 in three previous playoff games.

 In the teams last meeting in 2015, Carmel outscored them 14-6 in the fourth quarter for a 50-47 win.

 "We seem to run into these type of teams this time of the year," Anderson said. "King's Academy has had some special players come through that program."

 It has another in Brayln Lux, who had over 300 yards in total offense last week, rushing for 201 and compiling 117 receiving yards, scoring six touchdowns in their win over Monterey.

 Lux, who lines up as a receiver and tailback in the Knights offense, is explosive off the ball with 100 meter speed in the open field, having produced 35 touchdowns on the season.

 "He's quick and explosive off the ball," Anderson said. "But there's another guy that's bigger and just as explosive in their backfield."

 Anderson was referring to Jayden Russell, who also went over 100 yards rushing against Monterey, and is a threat on kickoff returns as well.

 "I think every team is trying to stop the run and establish the run," Anderson said. "King Academy keeps leaning on you. At this stage of the playoffs, most schools are bigger than us physically."

 Carmel hasn't faced a team of this caliber since its season opener 15 weeks ago, when it used a big second half to knock off Salinas 36-23.

 "This is an Aptos, Palma type team," Anderson said. "They don't give up a lot of big plays. They're very organized and disciplined. It looks like guys have been in the weight room year around."

 The Knight have been explosive in two postseason games, having outscored their opponents 97-20, ending Monterey's season with a 55-14 decision.

 The Padres, who have equaled their single season school record for wins, are averaging 55.5 points a game in the postseason, ending Gonzales' year with a 57-14 win.

 "You always have a plan coming in," Anderson said. "But sometimes the flow of the game changes things. We take what the defense gives us and spread it around to our playmakers."

 Lately that has been tailback Dakota Mornhinweg, who has scored 10 touchdowns in two playoff games, including a 103 yard interception return.

 "I just do my thing," said Mornhinweg, who has rushed for nearly 1,500 yards and 21 touchdowns, and has another six as a receiver and one as a defensive back.

 Mornhinweg has been a big factor in two postseason games, rushing for 386 yards, going over 100 yards rushing eight times this year.

 "He runs really hard and breaks tackles," Anderson said. "He does a really good job in ready blocks. He's also a factor in our passing game, and on defense."

 The one game Mornhinweg struggled to fine room to run on the ground, he caught eight passes for 132 yards in a win over Salinas.

 "Obviously he's been very productive the last two weeks," Anderson said. "But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter how we do it."

 While Mornhinweg has run wild the last two weeks, quarterback Kai Lee was sharp, completing 11-of-14 for over 200 yards and two touchdowns against Gonzales last Saturday.

 Lee has thrown 30 touchdowns this season, 10 to Rashaan Ward and six to Mornhinweg and Luke Melcher. And now he has another target in 6-foot-5 JT Byrne.

 Used primarily as a linebacker all season, Bryne also lined up as a receiver last week and grabbed  three passes for 60 yards and a touchdown.

  How open those passing lanes are Saturday may hedge on how well the Padres run the ball against a big and explosive King's Academy defensive front.

 "They have guys that are tall and make passing windows small," Anderson said. "It helps control the line of scrimmage. They tackle well. They just don't give up a lot of big plays."