CMHS suffers first loss

So much for Costa Mesa High’s perfect season.

The Mustangs suffered their first setback of the year, falling at home to Katella, 40-21, at Jim Scott Stadium on Thursday. Costa Mesa’s attempt at starting the season with three wins seemed over in the first half.

Katella, ranked No. 9 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division poll, built a 28-7 lead at halftime. The advantage went down to 13 points five seconds into the fourth quarter, and Costa Mesa had a chance to make it a one-score game 68 seconds later.

Cameron Curet’s 55-yard punt return set the Mustangs up on the Katella two. Then Costa Mesa broke down, quarterback Ben Swanson fumbled on first down, and two players later, Swanson threw his second interception.

Cornerback Jason Paez picked off the pass in the end zone with 9:27 left to play, returning it out to the two. The turnover and the Knights’ 16-play, 99-yard drive that chewed off 6:14 off the clock ensured Katella stayed undefeated.

“I’m not of the opinion that losses are ever good, but we’ll see how they respond,” Coach Glen Fisher said of his Mustangs.

The Mustangs (2-1) ran into their first ranked opponent, and Katella (2-0) is one program they have struggled mightily against, having only beaten the Knights once in 14 tries. That win came four years ago, in Wally Grant’s debut season in charge of Costa Mesa.

Grant is no longer around, Fisher replaced him in February, but the Mustangs continue to lose big to Katella. Looking back, the squandered opportunity inside the Katella five-yard line cost Costa Mesa any chance to make it closer in the fourth.

The Mustangs, who fumbled four times, recovering each one, will have to regroup after playing their only nonleague game at home. The following two are on the road, starting with Los Amigos at Bolsa Grande High next week.

“We went in at halftime and we wanted to come out and win the second half, regardless of the score, and we feel like we did that,” Fisher said. “Sometimes it doesn’t work out.”

Not much happened in the first six minutes of the game, only Costa Mesa moved the chains once and it came 34 seconds after cornerback Josh Snipes intercepted his sixth pass of the season. Snipes is also the one who recorded the first down as well, hauling in a 17-yard pass with 7:16 left in the first quarter.

In the rest of the first half, Katella dominated. The Knights moved the chains for the first time, doing so six times during a 15-play, 81-yard scoring drive. Thomas Cuevas finished things with a one-yard touchdown run with less than a minute to go in the first quarter.

The Knights got the ball back right away. Only nine seconds had ticked off the clock in the second quarter by the time Katella’s offense marched back onto the field. Costa Mesa couldn’t gain any positive yards, losing a dozen yards on first down and then seeing Swanson throw two straight incomplete passes, forcing a punt.

Curet’s 71-yard punt pinned Katella on its six. The Knights put together another impressive long drive, going 94 yards in 12 plays, taking almost four minutes to find the end zone. The big plays on the drive were a 37-yard pass to receiver James Faitasia, who out-jumped the smaller cornerback for the ball, and six runs for 39 yards by Randy Furbush.

The 240-pound Furbush, who rushed 29 times for 190 yards and two touchdowns, helped put Katella up, 14-0. He rushed for a six-yard touchdown with 7:52 left in the first half.

Seventy-one seconds later, the Mustangs cut the deficit in half. Tailback Jonathan Brucales began the possession with a 43-yard run down the Costa Mesa sideline, going down near the opponent’s 20-yard line. A couple of plays later, Swanson completed the first of two 11-yard touchdown passes to Curet.

Swanson wouldn’t complete another pass in the first half, going three of 11 for 33 yards. Katella’s quarterback, Joseph Vasquez, was a little more successful through the first two quarters.

After misfiring on his first three throws, the senior completed eight straight. Vasquez’s favorite target in the first half was Faitasia. The two connected four times for 116 yards, almost half of those yards came on a touchdown. Vasquez threw one up for Faitasia and he hauled the ball in, before breaking a tackle on the 20 en route to a 53-yard touchdown with 4:49 to go in the first half.

While Faitasia finished with eight catches for 186 yards, the Knights’ ground game produced most of the scoring. They rushed for five touchdowns.

“We were fortunate enough to be balanced,” said Katella Coach Fred DiPalma, who saw Vasquez complete 13 of 18 passes for 247 yards and his rushers combine for 295 yards.

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Katella 40, Costa Mesa 21

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Katella 7 – 21 – 6 – 6 — 40

Costa Mesa 0 – 7 – 7 – 7 — 21

FIRST QUARTER

K – Cuevas 5 run (Hurtado kick), :49.

SECOND QUARTER

K – Furbush 6 run (Hurtado kick), 7:52.

CM – Curet 11 pass from B. Swanson (Curet kick), 6:41.

K – Faitasia 53 pass from Vasquez (Hurtado kick), 4:49.

K – Pineda 2 run (Hurtado kick), 1:08.

THIRD QUARTER

CM – Curet 11 pass from B. Swanson (Curet kick), 3:27.

K – Damasco 1 run (kick failed), 1:08.

FOURTH QUARTER

CM – Snipes 8 pass from B. Swanson (Curet kick), 11:55.

K – Furbush 4 run (kick failed), 3:13.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

K – Furbush, 29-190, 2 TDs.

CM – Brucales, 15-78.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

K – Vasquez, 13-18-2, 247, 1 TD.

CM – B. Swanson, 6-16-2, 85, 3 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

K – Faitasia, 8-186, 1 TD.

CM – Curet, 3-55, 2 TDs.