Prep football: Mustangs romp
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Barry Faulkner
COSTA MESA - The Orange Coast College football turf was unusually
shoddy for this time of year and the Costa Mesa High offense sure didn’t
do it any good Friday night.
The Mustangs churned out 429 yards of total offense, including 346 on
the ground, parading up and down the field to claim a 39-13 nonleague
triumph to christen the Dave Perkins coaching era at the school.
If, as coaches believe, teams improve the most between their first and
second games, the Mustangs offensive attack, a cross between the wing T
and the fly, could become downright scary.
“We played pretty well on offense, but we knew we could move the
football,” Perkins said. “We even made some mistakes and shot ourselves
in the foot, but we have a lot of weapons. I don’t think (the
Roadrunners) stopped us. We stopped ourselves.
There was no stopping the Mustangs (1-0) most of the night, including
the opening drive of the game, which senior wingback Nick Cabico capped
with an 8-yard sweep for a touchdown.
After Saddleback (0-1) took a lead with a 31-yard quarterback keeper
by George Marquez and a conversion kick by Luis Olmos, Mesa played it
cool for one more series.
But, the hosts drove 78 yards and 48 yards for touchdowns on their
final two possessions of the half and scored the first two times they had
the ball after intermission to establish firm command.
Junior Keola Asuega ran 8 yards to put Mesa ahead, 12-7 (a second
conversion run attempt failed), then linebacker Jose Valle made a leaping
interception to give the Mustangs the ball at the Saddleback 49.
Nine plays later, senior quarterback A.J. Perkins threw a strike to
Cabico for a 9-yard scoring pass with 21 seconds left in the half to
provide an 18-7 advantage.
A.J. Perkins, who connected on 9 of 17 for 92 yards, picked up his
second TD toss on a 7-yard flip to senior fullback Jesse Cardenas, then,
after Saddleback’s second TD, he hit Cabico over his shoulder on a
well-placed fade for an 18-yard score with 3:31 left in the third.
Asuega finalized the easy victory with a 1-yard sweep and Nathan
Hunter added his second conversion kick with 2:54 left in the game.
Perkins passing statistics weren’t as impressive as they might have
been in his first varsity start, but it was hardly his fault. Five of his
incompletions went off his receivers’ hands, including two that would
have produced touchdowns.
Perkins’ aerial precision was set up by a dominant ground game, keyed
by pulling guards Robert McQueen and Andrew Carich, though a host of
linemen also sparkled.
Asuega finished with 129 yards on 15 carries, while Cabico collected
117 on 13 attempts. Cardenas added 64 yards on his dozen carries, as the
Mustangs amassed 23 of their 27 first downs on the ground.
Tackles Paul Martin and Zenri Kato, as well as center Brett Via and
tight end John Garcia, rounded out the starting blocking wall. Alan
Rayner, Bobby Arroyo and Jesse Franco also chipped in, knocking
Roadrunners every which way and carving up the soft stadium turf.
Defensively, the Mustangs yielded 293 yards, but twice stopped the
visitors on fourth down, including once at the Mustangs’ 3-yard line.
Senior safety Freddy Rodriguez added a second interception for the
winners, who also retained possession when Omar Ruiz drilled a Saddleback
punt returner, creating a fumble Hunter recovered to set up the Mustangs’
final score.
“We’re going to give up yards, because we take a lot of chances,”
Perkins said. “But it’s a bend but don’t break defense.”
Hunter also caught six passes for 58 yards to add to the attack, which
included 194 all-purpose yards from Cabico, who devastated the
Roadrunners for 304 all-purpose (rushing, receiving and returns) last
fall in the Mustangs’ 48-23 triumph.
Saddleback’s no-huddle offense actually helped Mesa wear the
Roadrunners down, as the Mustangs totaled 73 offensive plays, an amount
usually hard to obtain with the 12-minute high school quarters.
Mesa stunted one drive by allowing one of two Saddleback sacks, and
another was hampered by a holding call and a fumbled snap. But the
Mustangs had no turnovers and punted just four times.
Can they improve next week against Westminster?
“I think so,” A.J. Perkins said. “This is really exciting, but whose
to say.”
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