Prep football: Rave reviews for Mesa

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - Sometimes the sweetest part of a victory celebration

occurs the following day, when the players and coaches meet to review the

videotape.

This was especially true for the Costa Mesa High football team, which

first-year coach Dave Perkins said had not spent much time basking in the

cinematic glow of its victories under the previous regime.

“From what kids were telling me, they didn’t look at a lot of film,”

Perkins said. “So, Saturday was a real eye-opener to the kids who played

here last year. A lot of the fun of a big win is hearing the oohs and ahs

on Saturday when the big plays are replayed.”

There was plenty of revelry by the Mustangs, who stomped visiting

Saddleback, 39-13, Friday night. But, perhaps more important to Perkins

and his staff, there was also a significant amount of instruction.

“One other positive about showing the film after a win is, it brings

you back down to earth,” Perkins said. “Even though we did a lot of good

things, there was a lot of room for improvement. It really helps to be

able to show kids exactly what they did right and what they did wrong.”

In regard to the former, Perkins was most pleased with the play of his

offense.

“I thought our offensive line did a tremendous job, especially our

guards,” Perkins said.

Perkins was obviously pleased with running backs Keola Asuega and Nick

Cabico, who both surpassed 100 yards on the ground, as well as senior

fullback Jesse Cardenas.

Senior quarterback A.J. Perkins also earned praise for directing the

offense. He threw for 92 yards and three TDs and helped the Mustangs

avoid any turnovers.

“No turnovers was huge for us and we came out plus-three in that

column,” Dave Perkins said. “Our offense isn’t easy to execute without

turnovers, so that speaks to how well our kids executed.”

Perkins was pleased, for the most part, with the play of the defense.

He singled out noseguards Doug Amburgey and Borotha Pov for their strong

contributions, as well as inside linebacker Jose Valle, who made a

leaping interception and played well against the run.

“We need to work on our aggressiveness on defense,” Perkins

said.Perkins was less than pleased with the special teams.

“I wasn’t happy at all with the way our kickoff team kept its lanes,”

he said. “It wasn’t a matter of aggressiveness, but we’ll need to work

hard to improve on special teams.”

Yet another positive was an injury-free performance, which included

numerous reserves.

“We played a lot of kids, which keeps everybody happy,” Perkins said.

“And, it gives us the chance to evaluate a lot of people on film. One of

the pleasant things about this team is, we still have a lot of guys

fighting for a job. So, if someone were to come out and not have a good

week of practice, chances are there would be someone there to take their

position in the lineup.”

The Mustangs, now winners of five straight openers, will put that

lineup to the test Friday against Westminster, which fell to Pacifica,

35-14, in Week 1.