Run for the roses

Barry Faulkner

And down the stretch they come.

Costa Mesa High’s Mustangs continued to display their effective

finishing kick Friday night, when neither the elements, nor a worthy

title contender could divert their sixth straight gallop to the

winner’s circle.

“I guess we’re pretty good mudders,” said Mesa Coach Dave Perkins,

whose team earned at least a share of the Golden West League football

championship by handling Santa Ana, 36-7, in a battle of league

unbeatens at Orange Coast College.

The victory assured the Mustangs (7-2, 5-0 in league) the league’s

No. 1 berth in the CIF Southern Section Division VII Playoffs, though

they will need to defeat Saddleback (3-6, 2-3) to put the finishing

touches on only the second outright league crown in the program’s 43

varsity seasons.

Friday’s win brought to mind a 13-3 Pacific Coast League triumph

over Trabuco Hills in 1993, which allowed the Mustangs, then coached

by Myron Miller, to earn the school’s first outright football crown.

Perkins may want to remind his squad that that win was followed by

a shocking 7-7 tie with Century, which pared the Mustangs’ league

lead, but enabled them to hold off Trabuco. History also shows that

Trabuco Hills needed just six weeks to exact revenge, trouncing Mesa,

44-6, in the CIF Division VIII championship game, which ironically

enough was played on a rain-soaked field.

Perkins, however, believes his players will step lightly when it

comes to celebrating too long.

“I still don’t think we’ve played our best game and I think we’re

getting better every week,” Perkins said. “I’ve seen teams in our

division and I think we match up really well with them. We’re playing

well at the right time of the year, so I think there is more to come

for this football team.”

The Mustangs have consistently pulled away from the opposition

after halftime during their impressive stretch drive.

In five league games this season, they have outscored foes, 63-14,

including 26-7 against the Saints.

“(The Saints, who came in on a seven-game winning streak) were

playing with a lot of enthusiasm early on, like any team would

playing for a league championship,” Perkins said of the first half,

in which Mesa built a 10-0 lead. “But we finally got it going and

they just couldn’t stop our offense. We’ve been a second-half team

this year, which is really a tribute to the hard work the kids have

put in with conditioning.”

Senior Keola Asuega scored on touchdown runs of 34, 75 and 67

yards to turn a typically methodical, ball-control offense into an

explosive unit.

“We’ve had a pretty simple game plan all year, which has been to

utilize our ball-control offense, play pretty good defense and limit

our mistakes,” Perkins said. “For the first time since the Chaminade

game (a 27-24 victory in Week 2), we made some big plays on offense.”

Perkins acknowledged that Santa Ana was hurt by the absence of

senior quarterback Omar Carrasco, who had thrown for 1,460 yards, but missed the contest with a broken foot suffered the previous week.

“I wished he would have played, because there will always be that

‘What if?’ ” Perkins said. “But I thought the problem for them was

they just really couldn’t stop our rushing game. Even if they would

have had everyone, I don’t think they would have beaten us. Bottom

line: we earned it.”

Asuega, who finished with 284 yards on 23 carries, continues to

earn a special place in Newport-Mesa history. He now has 1,651 yards

this season, 3,560 career rushing yards and 18 games with at least

100 rushing yards. His career rushing total has been surpassed by

only one Newport-Mesa runner, former Mustang Binh Tran (4,333 yards

from 1991-93. Asuega’s three TDs give him 45 for his career, one

better than Tran’s former school record. Asuega is currently tied

with former Newport Harbor running back Steve Brazas for the

Newport-Mesa career TD record.