Curet, Mesa’s do-it-all senior
The plan wasn’t for Cameron Curet to play a down of defense for Costa Mesa High last week. There was a good reason as to why. Curet was starting at quarterback for the first time this season.
Quarterback is the toughest position to play in football, and Coach Glen Fisher wanted Curet to focus on his new job. Curet, who is used to handling a variety of duties on the field, stepped in for an injured Ben Swanson. Curet usually starts at wide receiver on offense, linebacker on defense, and as the kicker, punter and returner on special teams.
The move to quarterback forced Curet to give up defense during practice. He didn’t want to initially, nudging Fisher throughout the week that he could also contribute on defense.
Curet didn’t get one practice rep on defense. When it came to the game, he found himself on the defensive side of the ball right away against Savanna. Defensive back Josh Snipes went down with an injury on the second play from scrimmage and Curet came in, not at his usual position of linebacker, but at safety.
“We were kind of down to no one at safety,” Curet said, “so I offered to go to safety and coach threw me in there.”
Curet always seems to play safety whenever the Mustangs are competing at Glover Stadium. His first varsity start as a sophomore came at Glover Stadium as a safety, and as a junior, his only start at safety that year came at Glover Stadium.
In his senior year, Curet played safety again at Glover Stadium. He turned out to be the Mustangs’ safety net.
Curet provided all the scoring in Costa Mesa’s 15-6 win against Savanna, allowing the Mustangs to close out nonleague action with a 4-1 mark. Curet performed in all facets of the game, returning a punt 44 yards for a touchdown, rushing for a two-point conversion, rushing for a four-yard touchdown run and converting an extra-point kick.
Without Curet, the Mustangs, ranked No. 9 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division poll, don’t head into the bye week with their best start in four years. The 5-foot-10, 165-pounder carried Costa Mesa, rushing 17 times for 50 yards and a touchdown, completing a key 21-yard pass on third-and-12 to help take almost three minutes off the clock late in the fourth quarter, and intercepting a pass and returning it 15 yards to seal the game in the waning seconds.
Still, Curet was critical of his performance throwing the ball. He’s always looking for ways to improve.
“Beside running the ball, that was efficient, but the passing game, I was just horrible at it,” said Curet, who completed only two of eight passes for 21 yards. “I had opportunities, and eventually guys were open and I would just run the ball just because I didn’t have the confidence to throw it.
“I thought it was going to be easy [playing quarterback]. It wasn’t as easy as I thought.”
Curet might get another shot at quarterback. Fisher said he’s unsure when Swanson will return from the shoulder injury he suffered in a 40-14 win against Los Amigos on Sept. 18.
Curet said he’s practicing like he’s going to be Mustangs’ signal caller when they open Orange Coast League play at Laguna Beach on Oct. 9. The contest will mark Costa Mesa’s fifth on the road, and Curet said he and his team are ready for the challenge.
Costa Mesa is 4-0 away from Jim Scott Stadium this year. The team’s lone setback came at home against Katella, 40-21, on Sept. 12. Curet said staying perfect on the road will require him to make the correct reads and stop overthrowing his intended targets.
The offensive line, which featured left tackle Roman Ayala, left guard Adrian Plancarte, center Sammy Swanson, right guard Ray Welsher and right tackle Helper Kisino last week, protected Curet most of the time against Savanna. He only lost yards four times, a couple of those because of bad snaps to him in shotgun.
Playing quarterback wasn’t a first for Curet during his Costa Mesa career. He started at quarterback in the Mustangs’ regular-season finale a year ago. The offense mostly ran the Wildcat with him at quarterback, but times have changed. Gone is last year’s coach, Wally Grant, and his run-heavy offense. Fisher is in charge now, and his first five games in his inaugural season with the Mustangs has started much like Grant’s in 2011.
Another Curet stood out four years ago for Costa Mesa as a senior. Trace led the Mustangs to eight wins in their first nine games that year, before they dropped their final two, the league title to archrival Estancia and a first-round game to Los Amigos in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs.
Curet believes the Mustangs will be in contention for a league title. They first have to get healthy, as Ben Swanson is out, as is senior linebacker Mason Mataafa (shoulder) and Snipes (wrist). Curet did his best last week to keep Costa Mesa on the right track.
“Cameron did a great job of what we asked him to do,” Fisher said. “It’s hard [playing quarterback]. It’s not like throwing a kid in there and telling him to, you know, play guard, not that that’s not hard, but this is a guy that has got to take the snaps, you got to make the reads, you got to make sure everybody is lined up. Only a kid like Cameron can do that. We’re fortunate to have Cameron. That’s the only kid on this team that certainly is capable, as far as mentally, in a leadership role and physically, and everything came together.”
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Cameron Curet
Born: May 14, 1998
Hometown: Costa Mesa
Height: 5-foot-10
Weight: 165 pounds
Sport: Football
Year: Senior
Coach: Glen Fisher
Favorite food: Casey Swanson’s steak sandwich
Favorite movie: “The Shawshank Redemption”
Favorite athletic moment: “[When I trucked two guys] on a 35-yard touchdown run [against Los Amigos].”
Week in review: Curet produced all of the Mustangs’ points in a 15-6 win against Savanna at Glover Stadium. He returned a punt 44 yards for a touchdown, ran in a two-point conversion, rushed for a four-yard touchdown and converted an extra-point kick.
