Mustangs stay unbeaten

Joseph Boo

WESTMINSTER - The fireworks were exploding at halftime for

Westminster High’s homecoming game, but it was Costa Mesa’s C.J. Zuniga

who elicited the most ‘oohs’ from the crowd.

Zuniga rushed for 196 yards and helped the Mustangs spoil Westminster’s

homecoming with a 16-6 win.

Zuniga had 116 yards at halftime on 15 carries by squirming through holes

the offensive line gave him. Costa Mesa attempted all of two passes in

the half and completed both. Essentially, Zuniga accounted for 15 of

Costa Mesa’s 22 plays in the first half.

Zuniga benefited from an offensive line that opened up gaping holes for

the running game. He gained most of his yards before any Westminster

defenders touched him.

“My offensive line,” Zuniga said, “that’s the whole key. Today, I was

running through holes like the kind you can drive a truck through.”

For proof that anybody could gain yards behind Costa Mesa’s line, look at

quarterback Dave Weir’s 20-yard run at the start of the second quarter on

a botched play.

“My tailback accidentally went the wrong way,” Weir said. “I squeezed the

ball and followed my blockers. They were still blocking in the same

scheme, and I followed them into the end zone.”

That score put the Mustangs up 6-0, with a botched extra point from a low

snap. Costa Mesa later added a 28-yard field goal from Luis Avalos to

give it a 9-0 lead at halftime.

Westminster did threaten in the first quarter with a

seven-and-a-half-minute drive, and it was facing a fourth-and-two at

Costa Mesa’s 29-yard line. But Todd Duddridge chased quarterback Kelly

Coburn right into Robert Hulliger for a sack to kill the scoring threat.

Costa Mesa’s defense continuously pulled out big plays to stop the Lions’

high-powered offense. Westminster had several scoring chances, but it

stalled with failed fourth-down conversions and turnovers.

The biggest defensive stop came at the start of the fourth quarter when

the Lions were at Costa Mesa’s 5-yard line. Coburn was chased out of the

pocket by Hulliger and threw an awkward pass right to safety WillyFranco.

“I thought we played superb defense,” Costa Mesa Coach Jerry Howell said.

“We gave a great effort, and we hit hard instead of just bringing them

down.”

Besides the big plays, Costa Mesa’s defense shut down Westminster’s

scoring threats. Multifaceted tailback Vince Laurel’s longest run came at

halftime when he walked down the red carpet as a homecoming king

candidate, and he was held to 15 yards on eight carries. The Lions

leading rusher Christian Chamberlain had 12 yards on four carries, and

Coburn went 16-29 for 192 yards, but threw two interceptions that stalled

scoring opportunities.

“I went to quarterback camp with him,” Weir said, “and he was acting like

a hot-head. So we wanted to show him. If you want to get to the next

level, you have to get through us.”

After taking a 16-6 lead with a 2-yard run from Zuniga, Costa Mesa held

on against Coburn’s passing. Westminster added a touchdown in the fourth

quarter from Laurel’s 4-yard run, but when Coburn threw an interception

to Weir with 10 seconds left in the game, Costa Mesa downed the ball and

celebrated it’s fourth 3-0 start in 40 years.

“Our whole team should be impressive,” Howell said. “We asked them to

play a whole game, and they responded. We just didn’t turn the corner. We

coulda, and shoulda beat them 21-0.”

“It was too close at the end, and I’m getting too old for that.”

Costa Mesa is now winning enough that it’s not the number of wins that

counts, but the quality. And Friday night, the Mustangs were definitely

better than the fireworks show.