Prep football: Power of the pen

Barry Faulkner

COSTA MESA - Before the Costa Mesa High football team’s place in

the CIF Southern Section Division IX playoffs became etched in stone, it

was scribbled in ink.

“We had a real long meeting (Oct. 27), where we talked about the rest

of the season,” Mustangs Coach Dave Perkins said. “We talked to the kids

about the way the season was winding down and, for some of them, they

were approaching their last football practice ever. I think that really

struck home with them.

“We also talked about controlling our own destiny and we had each

player write CdM and Uni on the palm of their hand to emphasize the point

that we held the rest of our season in our own hands. Now, we can erase

CdM and write Uni in a little bigger letters.”

Erasing Corona del Mar was made possible by Friday’s 17-0 Pacific

Coast League victory, which clinched a guaranteed berth into the

postseason.

Now, the Mustangs (7-2, 3-1 in league) are playing for a shot at a

league co-championship, or at least representing the league as its No. 2

playoff entry. The former could happen with a win Thursday over

University and a CdM upset of unbeaten Northwood. The latter is merely

contingent on a victory Thursday over the Trojans (6-2, 3-1).

If not for what Perkins called his team’s most complete effort of the

season against CdM, playoff aspirations would rest on at-large scenarios.

“The key was playing a complete football game,” Perkins said of

Friday’s conquest over the favored Sea Kings. “We had been sputtering,

playing good on offense and not so good on defense, or the other way

around, and having breakdowns in the special teams. But it finally

clicked and it looks like we’re playing a little better at the right time

of year.”

Perkins said locking up a playoff berth is something his players

should feel very good about.

“I think it is really an accomplishment for the kids and our coaching

staff, because we’ve had to overcome a ton of adversity this year (most

notably the Sept. 29 death of senior Matt Colby),” Perkins said. “But our

coaches hung in there and kept digging and working, which put our kids in

position to win. It has been an amazing accomplishment.”

Making the victory over CdM even more amazing was the fact that the

Mustangs did not complete a pass, missing on all four attempts.

It had been 33 games since Mesa failed to net at least one completion.

It has been 56 games since a Mesa squad won without connecting on a

single pass, a span of 38 victories dating back to a 17-0 triumph over

Estancia in Week 7 of the 1996 season.

“It’s the first time ever I’ve had a team not complete a pass,” said

Perkins, in his first year at Mesa, but his 19th as a prep head coach.

“I got a little stubborn and decided to just run the ball,” said

Perkins, who calls his team’s plays. “I was convinced, coming in, that we

could run the ball on them. Once we got a lead, we just wanted to keep

running the clock and controlling the football.”

Senior wingback Nick Cabico (120 yards) and junior fullback Keola

Asuega (91 yards and two touchdowns) each carried 16 times to help the

Mustangs surpass the 3,000-yard rushing plateau as a team for the third

straight season.

Perkins credited an increased comfort level with the defensive scheme,

altered after the second game from the double flex to a more traditional

four-three, for his team’s first shutout of the season, the school’s

first in 17 games.