Mustangs get dry run

Patrick Laverty

Costa Mesa High’s football team will get a preview of what lies ahead

Friday when it takes a break from Golden West League play to battle

Santiago at Orange Coast College at 7 p.m.

Santiago runs similar schemes to Orange, giving the Mustangs an

early look at their opponent for a crucial league game the following

week.

“It kind of works good for us because Santiago and Orange run

similar types of offenses and defenses,” Mustangs Coach Dave Perkins

said. “We get to prepare for Orange two weeks in a row.”

Costa Mesa (3-2, 1-1 in league), ranked sixth in CIF Southern

Section Division VII, needs a victory over No. 4 Orange (4-1, 2-0) to

maintain hope of defending its league title. But the Mustangs can’t

overlook Santiago (0-5), a fact they should be aware of after being

upset by Saddleback two weeks ago.

Like Orange, Santiago runs a double-tight, double-wing offense

that uses a lot of pitches to the wingbacks. It’s similar in style to

Tustin’s offense, Perkins said. Defensively, both Santiago and Orange

play even-man fronts.

Santiago is led by senior running back Curtis Martin, who has 320

yards and two touchdowns on 85 carries. Last year, in Costa Mesa’s

26-6 victory over the Cavaliers, Martin rushed for 141 yards and a

touchdown.

In that same game, Mustangs senior running back Omar Ruiz rushed

for 90 yards and two touchdowns. Those numbers pale in comparison to

the last two weeks, when Ruiz has rushed for 490 yards and five

touchdowns. He has averaged 7.7 yards per carry the last two games.

For the season, Ruiz has rushed for 759 yards on 126 carries and

scored seven touchdowns.

He has been the primary cog in an offense that is averaging 33.2

points per game this season. For comparison, Santiago has only scored

33 points all year.

Joining Ruiz as Costa Mesa’s top rushers are fullback Junior

Epenesa (32 carries, 182 yards, four touchdowns) and backup tailback

Qualic Vargas (26 carries, 185 yards, three touchdowns).

Quarterback Bruce Wilkinson has also been solid, completing 34 of

60 passes for 484 yards. In the last two weeks he has shown a

particular fondness for 6-foot-3, 215-pound receiver Jeff Waldron,

who has been split out wide the last two weeks after starting the

season at tight end.

“Jeff was a very, very solid go-to guy all through the summer,”

Perkins said. “We decided to split him out and put him in the slot or

at wide receiver. He runs good routes and he has really good hands

and he’s a big body that’s tough to get around to make the play.”

Waldron also starts at linebacker as a key member of the Mustangs

defense, which is allowing 19.2 points per game.

That unit will receive a practice run this week as Costa Mesa

prepares for Orange and its final four Golden West League games of

the season.