Football: Mustangs hold on for win over Laguna Beach

Tony Altobelli

COSTA MESA - Costa Mesa High football coach Jerry Howell made a

challenge to his squad following last week’s loss and the team rose to

the occasion.

The Mustangs combined tough defense with an in-your-face offense for a

17-14 Pacific Coast League win over Laguna Beach Thursday night at Orange

Coast College.

“After the way we played against Corona del Mar last Friday (a 37-7

loss), we needed to get back to playing smashmouth football,” Howell

said. “We did a better job of playing smashmouth football tonight, but we

still need to get better.”

Taking the hard-nosed style to heart was senior tailback Alvin Nguyen,

who started in place of injured tailback Keola Asuega (sprained ankle).

Nguyen threw his 155-pound frame into the chaos and rushed for 139

yards and a touchdown on 33 carries. His 44-yard touchdown run in the

third quarter was his only run from scrimmage of over 10 yards.

“He battled hard for us out there,” Howell said. “He stepped it up and

did a great job.”

Trailing, 14-10, in the third quarter, the Mustangs (5-2, 1-1 in

league) gave the ball to Nguyen and found nothing between him except

brown dirt, bits of grass and a cozy end zone.

“They overpursued on the right side, so I cut back to the left,”

Nguyen said. “All the credit has to go to the offensive line. They did a

great job of opening the holes for me. Once that hole opened up, I was

gone.”

That gave Mesa the lead, 17-14, which turned out to be more than

enough for the defense to preserve.

The Mustangs sacked Artists’ quarterback Todd Merz seven times for 58

yards in lost yardage, while holding Laguna Beach to a slim 136 yards of

total offense.

“We thought coming in that we would have to shut down No. 21 (running

back Jason Boyd) and contain No. 30 (receiver Will Blodgett) for us to be

successful,” Howell said. “For the most part, we did that.”

Boyd was held to 51 yards on 16 carries, while Blodgett caught five

passes for 69 yards and had one touchdown.

Merz got the Artists (1-6, 0-2) on the board first with a 33-yard

touchdown strike to Blodgett for a 7-0 lead midway through the first

quarter.

After an uneventful opening offensive possession, Costa Mesa, ranked

No. 8 in CIF Southern Section Division IX, methodically marched down the

field on an 18-play, 73-yard drive that took over eight minutes.

Nguyen carried the ball 13 times on that drive for 47 yards, but it

was fullback Daniel Hunter who crossed the goal line from a yard out to

tie the game.

The entire offensive line Louis Day, Charlie Amburgey, Antony

Grubisich, Scott Schepens, Andrew Carich and Luther Mitchell out-muscled

the Artists from the opening snap. Out of 43 running plays for Mesa, only

four went for negative yardage.

“Please put all the O-line’s names in, please,” Nguyen said. “They

really were the difference out there.”

Laguna Beach took advantage of some over-agressive play on the part of

the Mustangs and scored on a 4-yard touchdown run by Dan Woods. A

roughing-the-passer penalty on third down kept the Artists’ drive alive

and gave Laguna Beach a 14-7 advantage.

Senior Nick Cabico picked up 66 of his 146 kick return yards on one

big run, setting up a 30-yard field goal from Luis Avalos, which cut the

Artists’ lead to 14-10.

“We had some opportunities deep in their zone, but we couldn’t totally

cash in on them,” Howell said. “If we are going to be successful in this

league, we have to make the most of our scoring opportunities.”

After Mesa took the lead on Nguyen’s touchdown run, the defense got to

work. In the final 15 minutes of action, Laguna Beach could only muster

20 yards of offense, while the Mustangs forced two fumbles and had four

quarterback sacks.

Grubisich and Sean Biggio had the key fumble recoveries and the

Artists couldn’t get anywhere near scoring range for a game-tying field

goal.

“I wish I could get Laguna Beach out of our league,” an exhausted

Howell said, jokingly. “I have the feeling that everyone in this league

is going to beat on each other over the head until one team is left

standing.”