Football: Seahawks edge Mustangs

Tony Altobelli

COSTA MESA - A funny thing happened at Friday’s first-round CIF

Southern Section Division IX football game between run-happy Costa Mesa

High and pass-happy Pacifica.

The game was smothered in defense.

But in the end, the Mariners made more big plays on both sides of the

ball and managed to pull out a 14-6 win over Costa Mesa, ending the

Mustangs’ season a bit earlier than expected.

“It’s tough,” Coach Jerry Howell said afterward. “This was a hard-hitting

football game between two fairly even schools. They made more of the key

plays than we did.”

The Mariners’ defense was the highlight of the night, keeping the

highly-regarded Mustangs’ running attack in check the entire game, while

allowing only eight first downs all night.

C.J. Zuniga, Orange County’s leading rusher for the regular season, was

held to only 78 yards rushing on 29 carries by the ever-harassing

Mariners’ defense.

In fact, Zuniga’s longest run from scrimmage was only nine yards and out

of his 29 carries, 22 went for four yards or less.

Pacifica’s air attack nearly struck big on the first play from scrimmage,

but a 79-yard touchdown pass was called back on a holding penalty,

keeping the game scoreless.

Costa Mesa (8-3) got on the board first on a 32-yard field goal by junior

Luis Avalos with 8:41 remaining in the second quarter.

On defense, Zuniga stripped the ball from a Pacifica runner on the

following Mariners’ drive, giving momentum back to the Mustangs,

following Willy Franco’s recovery.

But Mesa could do nothing with the gift possession and was forced to

punt. It was that kind of night for the Mustangs.

“It’s very disappointing for the kids,” Howell said. “But we battled and

fought all the way to the end. We just couldn’t pull it out.”

After a bone-crushing hit by Franco that turned a Mariners’ completion

into an incompletion, Mesa took over in Pacifica territory.

Using a little trickery, the Mustangs used a fake punt and when Pacifica

realized what happened, Todd Duddage scampered 33 yards down to the

Mariners’ 4-yard line.

But Pacifica’s defense kept Mesa out of the end zone on three-straight

plays, and the Mustangs settled for a 21-yard field goal by Avalos,

making it, 6-0.

That’s when the air attack from Pacifica kicked in, as the Mariners drove

68 yards on five plays, ending with a 14-yard touchdown pass from

quarterback Joey Fuske to Jeremy Lovelace with 48 seconds remaining,

giving Pacifica a 7-6 halftime lead. Fuske was 3 for 3 for 59 yards on

the drive.

After a scoreless third quarter, Fuske pinned Mesa back to it’s own

1-yard line after a 39-yard punt to the sideline on the second play of

the fourth quarter.

From there the rest of the game would be played on Mesa’s side of the

50-yard line.

The Mustangs received one more life when the Mariners fumbled on Mesa’s

goal line, where the Mustangs recovered on the 1-yard line with just over

six minutes remaining.

But three plays later on fourth down, another fake punt came up a chain

link short of a first down, giving the ball back to the Mariners on

Mesa’s 10-yard line.

Jerid Kemp, who finished with 106 yards rushing, scored on a 4-yard run

up the middle, extending the Mariners’ lead to 14-6.

Mesa tried to drive for the tying score, but Pacifica held and ran out

the remaining 2:13 of the game.

“I’m extremely proud of our guys,” Howell said. “I couldn’t ask any more

of them.”