Prep football: Mustangs produce opening victory

Barry Faulkner

SANTA ANA - It was hardly perfect and, perhaps, a little parched,

but the Costa Mesa High football team was impressively productive in a

48-23 nonleague victory in the season opener Thursday against Saddleback

at the Santa Ana Bowl.

There were, it seemed, more cramps than kinks in the newly balanced

Mesa offensive attack, which spread the Roadrunners out, then popped

through the holes to start the new millennium in style and extend its

winning streak in season debuts to four.

“The kids who came, played well,” Costa Mesa Coach Jerry Howell said.

“We’ll be fine.”

The Mustangs were just that on offense, scoring on eight of their

first 12 possessions, with two ending on turnovers and another a missed

field goal. The visitors did not punt until the final moments, though a

would-be punt was ruined by a high snap early in the final quarter.

Junior Nick Cabico, who played his sophomore season at Mater Dei, was

clearly comfortable with his return to the black and green uniform.

The 5-foot-9, 145-pound junior rushed for 147 yards, caught five

passes for 74 more, returned the opening kickoff 62 yards and dashed 21

yards with an interception to total 300 all-purpose yards. He also broke

up several passes and made a handful of tackles at cornerback, but was

one of several Mustangs to cramp up in the second half.

“We’re not in condition,” said Howell, who watched his defense battle

fatigue as Saddleback rolled off 76 snaps in its no-huddle offense.

“(The Roadrunners) ran us to death with that no-huddle,” Howell said.

“They must have run 70 plays.”

Saddleback did gain some success through the air, as senior

quarterback Ramon Saavedra connected on 19 of 41 for 302 yards, three

touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions.

But Saavedra was sacked three times -- by Jason Hurley, Robert McQueen

and Danny Mardikian -- picked off once and nearly intercepted a few more

times.

Saddleback was limited to 129 yards on the ground, while Mesa amassed

352.

In addition to Cabico’s rushing efforts, Alvin Nguyen picked up 92

yards and a pair of TDs, including a 61-yard sprint to finalize a 31-7

halftime lead.

Senior fullback Daniel Hunter and Hurley, a sophomore, nearly split

122 yards evenly with 17 combined carries, behind a starting line of

tackles Charlie Amburgey and Paul Martin, guards Antony Grubisich and

Andrew Carich and center Scott Schepens.

Schepens even got into the act as a receiver, fielding a deflected

pass for one of senior quarterback Patrick Hulliger’s 12 completions.

Hulliger, throwing underneath coverage most of the night, hit six

different receivers for 127 aerial yards. His 12 completions were the

most during Howell’s tenure (in its sixth season), which now includes 56

games.

“We’ll throw the ball better (this season,” Howell said.

The game, which included 63 pass attempts, lingered on well past the

two-hour mark, a rarity for Mesa games in the 1990s.

Senior All-Pacific Coast League kicker Luis Avalos added field goals

of 33 and 26 yards, was perfect on six conversion kicks, and even booted

a kickoff into the end zone for a touchback, another accomplishment

seldom seen in recent years.