Panthers pound Mustangs

ORANGE — The season got off to a rocky start for the Costa Mesa High football team Friday night.

By the time the Mustangs got a first down — on a face mask penalty — they were down on the scoreboard by four touchdowns.

Orange High was too big in the trenches, dominating the line of scrimmage en route to a 43-0 shutout victory at El Modena High.

“They are bigger than us, they’re well-coached and they just beat us,” Costa Mesa Coach Glen Fisher said after watching the Panthers rack up 283 rushing yards, with five different players scoring touchdowns on the ground. “I’ll be surprised if we see anything bigger than that. They definitely had some dudes up front … They’re going to give some teams fits in [CIF Southern Section Division 13]. They’re going to be a load in this division.”

Costa Mesa came in sharing No. 10 in the Division 13 preseason poll, while Orange was unranked. But the Panthers dealt the Mustangs their worst shutout loss, in terms of margin of defeat, since a 44-0 loss to Rim of the World on Oct. 13, 2007.

The Panthers used their size on the offensive line. Senior left tackle Noah Tiliaia-Faletoi, senior left guard Julian Morariu, sophomore center Keanu Tongilava, senior right guard Cody Remigio and senior right tackle Juan Medrano average 6-foot-1 and 252 pounds.

“We make practice hard so the games are easy,” Morariu said. “It was awesome. We had a bad past, 0-10 [in 2014] and 4-6 [in 2015], so it’s nice to start out like this. This year, we’re 1-0 so far.”

Less than zero was how many net yards the Mustangs gained in the first half of the Week Zero game (minus-eight), in which junior quarterback Ben Swanson was sacked five times. The offense went three-and-out on each of the first three Mesa possessions, which ended with punts that went 18, 13 and 21 yards, respectively.

Orange started each drive on the Costa Mesa side of the field. The Panthers usually didn’t keep it for long. On the team’s third play from scrimmage, junior running back Aaron Murray burst up the middle for an 18-yard touchdown run.

Nathan Howard added a three-yard scoring run before Luis Correa added his own three-yard plunge, giving Orange a 22-0 lead with 2:36 left in the first quarter.

The Panthers also scored on their fourth possession with a 14-yard run by Murray, who finished with 67 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Sophomore quarterback Miguel Orendain, who attempted just three passes, added 10 carries for 76 yards and two more scores.

“They got on top of us fast, so credit to them,” Fisher said. “It’s one football game. We’ll work at it.”

The Mustangs finally drove the ball midway through the second quarter. Swanson completed a 13-yard pass to his favorite target on the night, sophomore tight end Jack Perez, to get the team past midfield for the first time. But, on first-and-10 from the Orange 37-yard line, the Panthers got three successive quarterback sacks from Ricardo Alberto, Jacob Tuua-Birch and Tiliaia-Faletoi to push Costa Mesa back.

Orange led, 29-0, at halftime and struck quickly after that. After Orendain capped a six-play, 65-yard drive with a 32-yard keeper for a touchdown, Costa Mesa fumbled the ensuing kickoff, with Orange’s Benjamin Rivera recovering it at the Mustangs 17-yard line.

One play later, it was Brandon Warren’s turn to find the end zone. He dragged Mesa tacklers across the goal line, giving his team the 43-0 lead less than four minutes into the second half. The fourth quarter was played with a running clock.

The Mustangs’ best chance to score came late. They got into the red zone midway through the fourth quarter before turning it over on downs.

Eli Collado had two catches for 26 yards for the Mustangs.

Costa Mesa has plenty to work on before returning home next Friday to face Garden Grove Santiago. The game will be the first in the Mustangs’ new on-campus stadium.

“It’s going to be exciting,” Fisher said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do this week to fix it, but it’s going to be exciting. It’ll be a good night for Costa Mesa High School.”

Nonleague

Orange 43, Costa Mesa 0

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Costa Mesa 0 – 0 – 0 – 0 — 0

Orange 22 – 7 – 14 – 0 — 0

FIRST QUARTER

Org – Murray 18 run (Tuua-Birch run), 9:52.

Org – Howard 3 run (Guzman kick), 6:37.

Org – Correa 3 run (Guzman kick), 2:36.

SECOND QUARTER

Org – Murray 14 run (Guzman kick), 10:49.

THIRD QUARTER

Org – Orendain 32 run (Guzman kick), 9:04.

Org – Warren 17 run (Guzman kick), 8:50.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

CM – Merrifield, 9-12; Villaverde, 2-12.

Org – Orendain, 10-76, 1 TD; Murray, 10-67, 2 TDs.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

CM – B. Swanson, 9-22-0, 81.

Org – Orendain, 2-3-0, 38.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

CM – Perez, 4-45.

Org – Rivera, 1-21.