Mustangs battle back for victory

Rick Devereux

A come-from-behind win is usually cause for celebration in high

school football, but Costa Mesa High Coach Tom Baldwin was not

overjoyed with the Mustangs’ 25-22 Golden West victory over Ocean

View Friday night.

“It shouldn’t have been a come-from-behind victory,” Baldwin said.

“[Ocean View] isn’t very good, but I am happy that we beat them,

25-7, after [they took a 15-0 lead.]”

Baldwin said the Mustangs played well on defense, even on the

67-yard touchdown run and the 61-yard touchdown pass in the first

quarter that put Mesa into the early hole.

“[Ocean View] would have had nothing if it wasn’t for those two

plays,” Baldwin said. “On that [touchdown] pass, I thought our safety

was going to pick it off and run the other way for a touchdown for

us. But it went just over his fingertips and their guy was gone.”

Ocean View racked up 151 yards on its three scoring plays,

including a 23-yard rushing touchdown that gave the Seahawks a 22-9

advantage in the second quarter. But the Seahawks were held to 149

yards otherwise.

One reason why the Mustangs did not take control of the game was

penalties. For the third game in a row, Mesa was penalized at least

10 times for 90 yards.

“We still have to eliminate penalties,” Baldwin said. “It has cost

us some games this year, and almost lost [the Ocean View] game.”

Costa Mesa has been penalized 79 times for 600 yards this year,

including the 11 calls for 90 yards against the Seahawks.

“We should be 4-4 and 3-1 [in league],” Baldwin said. “I’ve never

have a team make so many penalties, and they are stupid penalties

that kill you, too.”

Baldwin said penalties resulted in losses to Laguna Beach and

Santa Ana.

Costa Mesa (2-6, 2-2) will have a chance to work on the penalty

situation during the bye week before it faces Orange Nov. 5 at Orange

Coast College.

* NEWPORT HARBOR: If the adage is true that a defense wins

championships, the current Sailors team might be able to repeat what

occurred 10 years ago: a division championship.

Newport Harbor (6-0-1, 1-0-1 in the Sea View League) handed Aliso

Niguel its first defeat thanks to a ball-control offense and a

smothering defense.

The Wolverines were averaging more than 33 points per game with

quarterback Drew Westling averaging more than 260 yards per game. The

Tars beat Aliso, 21-7, and held Westling to 178 passing yards.

“They are obviously very explosive on offense and have put up a

lot of points on everybody so far,” Coach Jeff Brinkley said. “[Our

defensive line] was able to pin back their ears and just rush the

quarterback.”

Ends Saami Khalifian and Sean Rowe each had two sacks and

pressured Westling throughout the game.

While the defense has been dominant this year, allowing an average

of 10 points per game, the offense has been reliable. Against Aliso

Niguel, the Sailors racked up 434 yards.

“We threw the ball very well,” Brinkley said. “We were very

efficient on offense and I don’t think the 21 points is indicative of

how good we were. But 21 was enough to win.”

Quarterback Kasey Peters finished with 179 passing yards,

completing 18 of 22. Peters also scored the first points of the game

on a 6-yard bootleg in the first quarter. Peters said playing well

against Aliso Niguel was important for him because a blind-side hit

by a Wolverine broke his collarbone and ended his season last year.

“[The win] obviously meant a little more to me because of the

history I have with this team,” Peters said after the game. “Our line

played great. I didn’t get touched all night long.”

Brinkley also felt the offensive line, including tackles Steve

Joslin and Charles Schultz, guards Khalifian and Efrain Castro, as

well as center Chris Taylor, played well against Aliso and has been

improving all year.

“They are giving us the ability to have a physical running game,”

Brinkley said. “To see the line step up and be more physical has

allowed us to take what the defense gives us. If [defenses] want to

detach and stop the pass, we can run the ball. If they want to crowd

the line to take away the run, we have the skill guys to make plays

with the pass.”

Newport Harbor, ranked No. 3 in CIF Southern Section Division VI,

plays Irvine (4-3, 1-1) Saturday at 7 p.m. The Vaqueros are No. 9 in

the division.

* SAGE HILL: The Lightning posted their second shutout of the year

Friday in a 14-0 nonleague win over Sherman Indian. In its first two

seasons of varsity football, Sage had posted one shutout.

“Our defense didn’t give [Sherman Indian] one opportunity to

score,” Coach Tom Monarch said. “I never had any doubt that we would

shut them out.”

The defense has been a big reason for the massive turnaround by

the Lightning (6-1). In the 18 games of the first two seasons, teams

averaged more than 30 points a game against Sage Hill. The defense

help three opponents to fewer than 21 points.

Six of the seven teams this year have scored fewer than 20 points.

Villanova Prep (21) was the only team to score more.

“I think the big difference is not allowing big plays,” Monarch

said. “We used to give up big runs right up the middle of our

defense, and that’s not happening this year.”

The play of defensive lineman Morgan Brief and linebackers Nick

Sohl and Bryan Kornswiet has been solid against the run, and

cornerbacks Keya Manshadi and Braden Ross have shut down passing

opportunities for the opposition.

Ross hyperextended his back against Sherman Indian but returned to

the game. Manshadi did not play against Sherman Indian because of a

strained calf muscle. Monarch said both will be further evaluated

this week before the Academy League opener against Brethren Christian

(6-1) Friday.

* CORONA DEL MAR: In an eager attempt to come out firing on

offense against Northwood, it seemed Corona del Mar shot itself in

the foot turning the ball over four times in the, 27-14, Pacific

Coast League loss.

Coach Dick Freeman did not know why the Sea Kings played poorly at

the start of the contest because he said the team had a good week of

practice leading up to the game.

“I have no idea,” Freeman said. “We may have been a little tight.

We pretty much spotted [Northwood] 21 points.”

Despite surrendering the third-most points it had all season,

Freeman said the defense played well.

Northwood’s four TD drives all began in CdM territory.

The Timberwolves scored 14 points off turnovers.

“Those were gifts,” Freeman said. “We did a good job of moving

them back, but we gave them such good field position.”

Even with so many turnovers, Freeman still saw positives.

“We showed in the second half that once we want to play football,

we can play,” he said. “You can’t play half a game and expect to

win.”

CdM (4-3, 1-1 in league) is ranked No. 5 in Division IX and plays

Tesoro (5-2, 2-0) Friday at Newport Harbor High. The Titans are No. 3

in the division.

* ESTANCIA: The Eagles have faced highly-regarded teams all year.

Garden Grove is ranked No. 4 and CdM is No. 5 in Division IX, while

Orange is No. 10 in Division VII. But Coach Craig Fertig believes

Westminster, No. 9 in Division VII, is better than those teams.

“That’s the best team we’ve played all year,” Fertig said.

“Physically, we couldn’t handle them. But the best part of our team

is we didn’t quit.”

The fact Estancia continued to play hard despite being shut out

for the first 47 minutes of the game was about the only positive for

the Eagles in the 42-7 Golden West League loss.

“It wasn’t because of lack of heart,” Fertig said. “They were

bigger, faster and had more experience than we did.”

Fertig said Westminster’s senior-led defense was a major factor in

the loss. The fact starting running back Bryce McKendry left the game

with what was described as a stinger in his neck did not help

Estancia’s offense.

“Their defensive ends were phenomenal and really forced all of our

runs to the inside,” Fertig said. “And it hurts us when we needed one

of our best players and he gets injured and is out of the game. My

hands were tied.”

McKendry, who also starts at inside linebacker, should be fine for

Friday’s game against Saddleback at the Santa Ana Bowl.

“You saw a team take advantage of what it does best and attack

what our weakness was,” Fertig said. “But we never gave up. We kept

fighting them.”

Estancia (3-4, 1-2) is locked in an important league contest with

the Roadrunners (4-3, 2-2). The Eagles must win in order to keep

their playoff hopes alive.