Mustangs finding right formula
After Friday night’s 40-14 victory over Los Amigos High at Bolsa Grande High, Costa Mesa football coach Glen Fisher said his players are starting to believe in each other.
The Mustangs are 3-1 for just the second time since 2001. The 2011 team also won three of its first four games on the way to an 8-1 start.
Costa Mesa won despite losing sophomore quarterback Ben Swanson to an injury on his right (non-throwing) arm in the third quarter. Swanson had it in a brace later in the game, but Fisher said it was just a stinger and he’s expecting his emerging quarterback to be fine.
Costa Mesa also came into the Los Amigos game missing other key players like Swanson’s older brother, senior offensive lineman/linebacker Sammy Swanson (concussion). And senior linebacker Mason Mataafa (shoulder) also was in street clothes.
But the Mustangs received excellent play from linebackers Rodrigo Carvalho and Tim French. Carvalho, a senior, had a forced fumble, while French, a sophomore, recovered a fumble. Both had a quarterback sack.
Costa Mesa will have an extra day to try to get healthy, as it plays Savanna on Saturday at Glover Stadium in Anaheim. That’s the Mustangs’ final nonleague game before Orange Coast League play begins Oct. 9 at Laguna Beach.
— Matt Szabo
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Corona del Mar High showed once again why it has the best program in the area. The title used to belong to Newport Harbor for many years, but the Sea Kings took down the Sailors, 24-3, in the 54th edition of the Battle of the Bay rivalry game at Orange Coast College on Thursday.
The Sea Kings (3-1) have prevailed against Newport Harbor in the last three meetings.
“It’s so tight,” CdM Coach Dan O’Shea said of the rivalry between CdM and Newport Harbor. “Those guys are such a good football program. They’re extremely well coached. I can’t emphasize that enough. Their kids play us harder than anybody we play does. It was an honor to play in this game and fortunate to come out on the right side of it.”
O’Shea, in his first year as CdM’s head coach, was glad to see his team bounce back after it suffered a 13-7 loss at El Toro the week before.
Next for O’Shea and the Sea Kings, ranked No. 8 in the CIF Southern Section Southwest Division poll, is Tesoro (3-1), the No. 3 team in the West Valley Division, at Jim Scott Stadium. Tesoro beat CdM last year, ending the Sea Kings’ 30-game winning streak. At the time, it was the longest active successful streak in the state.
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
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Four turnovers and three breakdowns on special teams hurt Estancia High in its 27-17 nonleague loss at Irvine on Friday.
Quarterback Connor Brown threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles. In the second half, the Eagles gave up a 28-yard punt return for a touchdown, had a punt blocked and returned for a four-yard touchdown, and missed a 25-yard field goal try.
The miscues led to the second straight loss for Estancia (1-2). The Eagles return home next week, when they play host to University at Jim Scott Stadium.
“They’re kicking butt,” Estancia Coach Mike Bargas said of the Trojans, who are off to their second straight 3-0 start. “Last year we got their number. They’re at our place, so that’s kind of a good thing.”
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
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Sage Hill School’s nonleague football loss at Los Angeles Windward on Friday featured some interesting officiating.
On one sequence late in the first half, the officials incorrectly counted the downs, allowing Windward to score a four-yard touchdown run on third down with 17 seconds left in the half. Had it correctly been determined to be fourth down, Windward, which prevailed, 26-22, likely would have attempted a field goal.
On Sage Hill’s first possession of the second quarter, junior quarterback Caden Sheetz completed a pass to Jacob Copeland for what appeared to be a 16-yard gain to the Windward 38-yard line. But after officials huddled, they ruled that since the clock operator did not start the clock on the play, the ball was not in play, thus negating the gain and returning the ball to the original line of scrimmage. It basically amounted to a do-over.
Sage Coach Abram Booty and other Lightning coaches said they had never seen a call like that, to which the head referee replied: “Then you all saw a first.”
Sage coaches also had frequent and justifiable complaints about the clock operater running time off when the clock should have been stopped. Many times the lost time was not restored by the officials.
— Barry Faulkner
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When asked if there was anything positive about Newport Harbor High’s performance, Coach Jeff Brinkley didn’t hesitate to answer.
“There’s not many positives when you get beat like that,” Brinkley said. “We’re going to have to improve. Our season just gets tougher, you know, every week. We got a long way to go to be competitive in the Sunset League.”
Newport Harbor (2-1) has two more nonleague contests before its league opener at home against Fountain Valley on Oct. 9.
The Sailors’ next game is at San Clemente (3-1), the No. 2-ranked team in the Southern Division poll, and they close out nonleague play at Davidson Field against Manhattan Beach Mira Costa (3-0), the No. 7 team in the Western Division. Newport Harbor split those two matchups last year.
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
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Senior Cameron Curet impacted the game in myriad ways for Costa Mesa. He had touchdown runs of five, 35 and two yards. The last two runs came after he entered the game at quarterback following Ben Swanson’s injury. The 35-yarder was impressive, as he bowled over two Los Amigos defenders downfield on his way to the end zone. He also had an eight-yard touchdown reception.
Curet also had a 70-yard kickoff return that opened the game, immediately putting the Mustangs in the red zone. And he broke at least three tackles his 42-yard punt return from midfield to the Los Amigos eight-yard line, which came in the second quarter. On the next play, senior running back Jonathan Brucales scored, giving Mesa a 20-6 lead.
— Matt Szabo
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The CdM defense came away with two turnovers, two turnovers on downs and four sacks, and it contained Newport Harbor running back Cole Kinder.
Bryce Claybaugh, a junior lineman, recovered one fumble in the second quarter and the other in the third quarter. The fumbles came with the Sailors inside CdM’s 40-yard line.
Claybaugh also added a sack, along with senior end Dean Ames. Junior lineman Teddy Barber led CdM two sacks, including one on fourth down.
A week after Kinder ran 34 times for 304 yards, the second-best single-game performance in Newport Harbor’s history, and two touchdowns at Pico Rivera El Rancho, CdM only allowed Kinder 78 yards on 18 carries.
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
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In the last 14 years, Estancia is 3-23 against teams from the Pacific Coast League. The Eagles’ next opponent is from that same league.
Estancia’s last win against a Pacific Coast League team came last year, when it defeated University, 35-10. The other two teams the Eagles have beaten from the Pacific Coast League since 2001 are Northwood and Woodbridge. Estancia defeated both programs in 2011, the same year it went on to reach the semifinals of the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs.
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
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The Costa Mesa-Los Amigos game got a bit chippy late in the fourth quarter. With less than three minutes to go and Mesa with a 33-14 edge, Curet took a knee for the Mustangs. Yet, on both first and second down, Los Amigos Coach Carl Agnew called timeout.
“You can draw your conclusion on that,” Fisher said. “I think we were trying to do the right thing … My coaches were angry at me [for not running plays since Los Amigos was using timeouts], but I think that you do things the right way.”
The Mustangs then took a quick shot on a pass to Josh Snipes downfield, which was incomplete. Eventually they would turn the ball over on downs after again taking a knee on fourth down, when Los Amigos used its last timeout with 1:49 to play.
“We wanted to get a first down so we could end the game,” Fisher said of the pass to Snipes. “Then we could take four knees. But we took three knees, and they used all of their timeouts. I don’t know. Maybe they’re trying to pad their rushing stats.”
The Mustangs still got the ball back after Christian Villaverde made an interception in the middle of the field and returned it to the Los Amigos two-yard line. This time, Curet scored on a two-yard touchdown run with 1:27 to go in the game.
— Matt Szabo
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Bargas said he expects Estancia to be without two key starters, Jason Jones, a left tackle and defensive end, and running back Jordan Balcazar next week, and possibly longer.
Bargas said Jones hurt his hand while making a tackle on defense in the first quarter, and he lost Balcazar to a separated shoulder in the fourth quarter when the junior tried to recover a fumble.
Balcazar finished with 26 carries for 116 yards and one touchdown. He’s the Eagles’ leading rusher, with 64 carries for 246 yards and two touchdowns in three games.
Jones, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound senior, is one of Estancia’s best two-way players.
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
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The Sea Kings have prevailed in the last three Battle of the Bay contests by an average of 17 points per game.
This year’s 21-point win by CdM over the Sailors ranks second all-time, tying the margin in the 1972 game. The Sea Kings’ most lopsided victory against Newport Harbor was the 23-0 shutout in 1993.
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
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Sage Hill junior outside linebacker and receiver Jake Fisher caught one pass for 13 yards and made several tackles Friday. It wasn’t enough to earn supremacy at the dinner tackle over younger brother Luke, who scored three touchdowns for the Corona del Mar High freshmen in their 21-7 win over Back Bay rival Newport Harbor on Thursday at CdM. The younger Fisher carried 11 times for 86 yards, including a 41-yard gain and scoring runs of one, three and one yards.
— Barry Faulkner
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Teran Rodriguez, a 2011 Newport Harbor graduate and ardent Sailor fan, reminded people on social media how long it would take for CdM to catch the Sailors in the series.
He posted, “Just remember Newport Harbor fans, Newport still leads CDM in the series 38-16, so it’ll take CDM 22 years to catch up,” on Twitter right after the game.
If you want to follow Rodriguez, he’s @TeranRodriguez1.
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
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Brinkley has only lost to CdM in consecutive years twice, during his first three years at Newport Harbor, from 1986-88, and in the last three meetings. Brinkley is 20-11 all-time against the Sea Kings.
— David Carrillo Peñaloza
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The last time a Brinkley-led Newport Harbor team managed only a field goal in any game was in 1990, and it happened in a 13-3 loss to CdM.
Those are the two times it has happened in Brinkley’s 30 years in charge of the Sailors.
— David Carrillo Peñaloza