Prep football: Mesa the underdog

Barry Faulkner

IRVINE - Last year, everything was a first for the Northwood High

football team. This fall, in only their second varsity season and loaded

with talented seniors, the Timberwolves have their eyes on finishing

first in the Pacific Coast League.

Costa Mesa High will try to alter those aspirations tonight, when the

Mustangs visit Irvine High for a 7 o’clock PCL opener.

Despite a 4-1 record and Orange County’s highest-scoring offense,

however, Mesa Coach Dave Perkins holds no illusions about waltzing

through the T-wolves.

“They’re a lot better than us on both sides of the ball,” Perkins said

of Coach Rick Curtis’ squad, which comes in 5-0 and ranked No. 3 in CIF

Southern Section Division IX. “Obviously, if you look at comparative

scores, we lost to Westminster, 22-16, and Northwood beat (the Lions),

35-0.”

Both offenses figure to keep the chain crew busy.

Mesa is averaging 41.6 points and more than 408 yards per game, while

Northwood has posted just more than 30 points and just fewer than 400

yards per outing.

The difference, however, may be the Northwood defense. In victories

over Notre Dame of Riverside, Granite Hills, St. Monica, Westminster and

Martin Luther King, the T-wolves have surrendered a combined 54 points.

That average of 10.8 per game is fourth-best among county defenses.

Costa Mesa, which has lost its last two PCL debuts, will try to

outscore Northwood with an offense that features myriad weapons.

Junior fullback Keola Asuega has carried 69 times for 582 yards and

nine TDs, and has also caught four passes for 57 yards.

Senior tailback Nick Cabico has 371 rushing yards and four TDs on 42

carries, and has turned two of his four receptions into TDs.

Senior wingback Freddy Rodriguez has added another 185 yards on 18

rushing attempts and has also averaged nearly 25 yards on his three

receptions. He has scored four TDs.

Senior quarterback A.J. Perkins is the trigger man. He has completed

34 of 77 for 456 yards and seven TDs, with only one interception.

Senior tight end John Garcia is the leading receiver with nine catches

for 155 yards and two TDs.

Northwood, however, has similar offensive weaponry, keyed by 6-foot-2,

195-pound senior returning first-team all-league quarterback Dan

Tomcheck. Tomcheck has completed 54 of 97 (nearly 56%) for 762 yards and

nine TDs. His three interceptions all came against St. Monica and he has

thrown at least one TD pass in every game this season.

Senior Andy Meyer has rushed for 793 yards and seven TDs on 74

carries, including scoring runs of 81, 75 and 25 (twice).

Kyle Keating, another senior running back, has emerged the last two

weeks to help bolster the running game. He has 202 yards on 21 carries

since Sept. 28.

Senior Dave Anderson leads a deep receiving corps with 23 catches for

288 yards and four TDs.

Costa Mesa’s defense, which has surrendered five TD passes this

season, should be bolstered by the return of senior inside linebacker

Bobby Arroyo and senior end Jesse Cardenas.

Arroyo sat out last week’s 42-11 win over Whittier Christian, while

Cardenas has recovered from a shoulder injury.

Costa Mesa won last year’s meeting, 57-7, against a Northwood team

decimated by injuries and without Tomcheck. Perkins’ Estancia team

outlasted the Timberwolves, 41-36, in a PCL opener that featured a

combined 922 yards of total offense. Tomcheck threw for 252 yards and

four TDs in that game.

Costa Mesa remains committed to honoring the memory of Matt Colby, a

17-year-old senior who died a day after collapsing on the sideline at the

Mustangs’ Sept. 28 game against Ocean View. The Mustangs have dedicated

this season to Colby.