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Prep football: Actions speak for Mesa

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Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - At some point, some Costa Mesa High football players

will put their feelings about their late teammate, Matt Colby, into

words.

For some, that time will come tonight, when Colby, a 17-year-old

senior who died after collapsing in a Sept. 28 game, will be remembered

in a memorial service at 7 o’clock at Orange Coast College.

For others, that time remains in the future. For others still, they

have already said all they need to say among themselves.

Yet there were those who chose to pay tribute with their actions

Friday night, when the Mustangs (4-1) returned to the playing field for a

42-11 nonleague triumph over Whittier Christian.

Senior linebacker Bobby Arroyo walked Colby’s dog, Chuck, to midfield

for the pregame coin toss.

Each Mesa player had a patch honoring Colby sewn onto their jersey and

each Mustang wore a white No. 9 decal on the left side of his black

helmet. Several others wrote Colby’s number on hand towels, which hung

from their belts.

Costa Mesa High senior tailback Nick Cabico followed his first-quarter

touchdown by pointing his right hand to the sky, in what appeared to be a

gesture of recognition to Colby.

Mesa players chanted Colby’s name repeatedly as they gathered before

and after the game and Coach Dave Perkins said they have elected to break

every defensive huddle the rest of the season with a uniform chant of

“Colby!”

Perkins answered reporters’ questions after Friday’s game, but was

unavailable for comment Sunday.

Perkins said Friday his biggest concern was providing his players with

a game plan to ensure success against the Heralds. That plan included the

hybrid wing T and Fly offense Perkins has termed the Pegasus offense.

That offense, which utilizes several different ball carriers and has

mixed in an effective play-action passing attack, rolled up a season-high

523 yards Friday, including 323 on the ground.

Mesa’s six touchdowns also pushed its season point total to 212, more

than halfway to the school single-season record set by Myron Miller’s

1994 Mustangs, who scored 412 in played 11 games.

Further, in Mesa’s last three games, including victories over

Centennial of Canada and Ocean View, the Mustangs have scored a combined

153 points.

Only one other three-game span in the school’s previous 41 seasons was

more productive -- a 157-point series against Troy, Santa Ana and Laguna

Beach in ’94.

In terms of perspective, the 153-point windfall is more than the total

number of regular-season points posted by 26 of the school’s previous 41

varsity teams.

The Mustangs will try to maintain this impressive offensive efficiency

when they open Pacific Coast League play Thursday against PCL title

contender Northwood (5-0). The game is set for 7 p.m. at Irvine High.

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