Daily Pilot Football Player of the Week, Shaun Ferryman: Rave

reviews

Barry Faulkner

While the Costa Mesa High football season has opened to critical

acclaim, there seems to be some disagreement whether Mustang game footage

should be considered instructional video or entertainment.

“Coach (Jerry) Howell gets mad at us (during postgame videotape

sessions), because we’re always talking about our big hits,” senior

two-way starter Shaun Ferryman said of he and his teammates.

“(Howell) is trying to point out mistakes and we’re saying ‘Look at that

hit!’ ”

Blockbuster hits weren’t Ferryman’s only means of artistic athletic

expression in the Mustangs’ 47-0 nonleague thumping of Bolsa Grande

Thursday.

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound inside linebacker and receiver also caught four

passes and scored his first two varsity offensive touchdowns, including a

32-yard catch and run deserving of universal thumbs up.

He helped spearhead a defensive effort which allowed the Matadors only 5

yards total offense (minus-6 on the ground).

And, refusing to settle for a bit part on special teams, he blocked a

pair of punts to set up two additional TDs.

It was a performance, though abbreviated when the Mustangs began lifting

the starters early in the third quarter, worthy of Daily Pilot Player of

the Week recognition.

According to his coach, and the returning All-Newport-Mesa District and

first-team All-Pacific Coast League leading man himself, it was, however,

a performance somewhat overdue.

“I don’t think Shaun had been playing anywhere near his capabilities,”

Howell said.

“I thought I had a real down game against Saddleback (a 28-19 win in the

Sept. 10 season opener),” Ferryman said. “I told myself ‘Dude, you’re a

senior; you better step it up.’ ”

The result was a more inspired work ethic on the practice field and in

the weight room. The Matadors were simply the first in what could be a

long line of reluctant co-stars in Ferryman’s continuing hit parade.

“I kind of took the attitude that I didn’t have to work as hard and I was

kind of lagging,” Ferryman said. “But, after that first game, it hit me

that my senior year was going to go by fast. I started to realize, every

game we play would be our last against that school. All that time I

wasn’t working hard, the competition was. I knew that had to change.”

It took little time against Bolsa for Ferryman’s new-found determination

to surface.

He ended Bolsa’s first offensive series by surging up the middle to block

a punt, setting up a 29-yard TD run less than three minutes into the

contest.

When Bolsa tried to punt a second time, Ferryman knifed up the middle and

took the point-blank offering off both forearms. He scooped it up and was

headed for the end zone, when was stopped just short.

Ferryman, however, didn’t have to wait much longer before hitting

paydirt. He fielded a 12-yard Dave Weir pass in the end zone less than a

minute into the second quarter.

The multitalented standout, who plans to add baseball to his familiar

basketball and volleyball roles later this year, then made the most of

slant pass in the final minute of the first half.

He fielded Weir’s spiral inside the 20, bowled over the Bolsa safety

inside the 10, cruised into the end zone, dropped the ball and extended

his arms from his side, palms upward, as if to say, What did you expect?

More was expected offensively this fall from Ferryman, who caught 15

passes as a junior. Howell told him he’d be the primary beneficiary of

this year’s increased passing emphasis.

It was welcome news to the former freshman offensive guard, who likes

snatching spirals nearly as much as he enjoys pummeling opposing

ballcarriers.

“Scoring two touchdowns in one game was kind of weird,” said Ferryman,

who returned one fumble and one interception for TDs last season. “I’ve

always had fun catching the ball, but defense is my love.”