Mesa loss an eye-opener

Barry Faulkner

There is frequently much to be discovered when a high school

football team dons its game uniforms for the first time each fall

under Friday night lights.

This was indeed the case for the Costa Mesa High Mustangs, who

dropped their 2002 debut, 35-15, to Newport-Mesa District rival

Corona del Mar Friday at Newport Harbor High.

“We discovered there are some things our kids can do and some they

can’t,” said Costa Mesa Coach Dave Perkins, who termed the contest an

eye-opener for his players, whom, he believes, may have been a little

too confident after dominating a three-way scrimmage with La Quinta

and Magnolia Sept. 13.

“I think our guys had a false sense of security and Corona del Mar

is a very good football team,” Perkins said. “I think CdM has a

chance to move up in the (CIF Southern Section Division IX) rankings

(it opened the season at No. 8) and I believe they have a shot to win

the Division IX title. We’re not where they’re at right now.”

Perkins also said the CdM coaching staff did a better job of

preparing the Sea Kings than the Mesa coaches did preparing the

Mustangs, ranked No. 7 in the CIF Division VII preseason poll.

The Mustangs were enthusiastic about playing, said Perkins, who

praised his players’ intensity and unwillingness to give up when they

trailed, 14-0, then later, 35-7.

“I thought we were very physical and I thought we hit right with

them,” Perkins said. “And another encouraging thing was that the kids

never gave up. I thought we kept battling the whole game.”

Perkins singled out the play of sophomore offensive tackle Rodrigo

Gutierrez, who started in his varsity debut, as well as first-time

varsity starter Daniel Cooper, a junior outside linebacker whose

quality contributions included forcing two fumbles, both of which the

Mustangs recovered.

Perkins was pleased with the play of his special teams and liked

what he saw at times from his offense.

Perkins said the battle at quarterback between senior Tim Iller

and junior Brian Knox will continue. Iller, who got the starting nod,

threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Waldron, while Knox came off

the bench to direct a late TD drive, completing 4 of 5 for 61 yards,

including a 9-yard scoring hookup with Nate Hunter.

“I would have liked to have come away from this game with a clear

idea as to who our guy was going to be, but that didn’t happen,

because both guys did some good things,” Perkins said.

Perkins said the absence of junior speedster Daniel Cheeseboro

(finalizing transfer eligibility), linebacker Cole Edwards (injured

ankle) and linebacker Junior Epenesa (expected to be medically

cleared from a heart problem that sidelined him last season) was also

a setback he hopes will be eliminated this week.

Additionally, Perkins said senior fullback Keola Asuega (79 yards

on 19 carries) and junior tailback Omar Ruiz (28 yards on eight

carries), should be more effective from here on out. Both did not

practice last week while nursing minor injuries.

“Our offense is based on timing and we had some timing problems,”

Perkins said.

Perkins reported no injuries in Friday’s game.