Color the Mustangs unhappy

Barry Faulkner

Well, so much for those lucky white pants.

The Costa Mesa High football team, for the first time in at least

a dozen seasons, has all but eliminated black from its uniforms. But

the shimmering white pants that worked so well in the Mustangs’ 27-24

road win over Chaminade Sept. 20, brought no such good fortune in

Thursday’s 14-7 nonleague loss against visiting Laguna Beach at

Newport Harbor High.

“We wore all white (jerseys and pants) on the road against

Chaminade, so we went with (the white pants) again with our green

jerseys (against Laguna),” Mustangs Coach Dave Perkins said.

Wardrobe, of course, had less to do with the outcome than Laguna

Beach quarterback Alex Wilson, as well as some self-destructive

behavior by the Mustangs, who fumbled five snaps, committed two

turnovers and were penalized 10 times for 76 yards.

“The disappointing thing was that we were moving the football,”

Perkins said. “We had more than 300 yards rushing (302), and 17 first

downs to their 16. We controlled the football game, but we didn’t

control the scoreboard.”

Perkins credited Laguna Beach for pulling off its first win over

the Mustangs in 13 seasons and improving to 3-0. He dispensed special

plaudits to Wilson, a junior first-year starter who completed 13 of

20 passes for 217 yards, including touchdown tosses of 35 and 26

yards to senior receiver Ed Hanke.

“I thought we did a good job of holding down (senior tailback

Donnelle) Darling (80 yards on 18 carries), but Wilson did a great

job throwing the football. And those linemen were big. I think they

may even downplay the sizes of those guys in their program. We

couldn’t get around them to get to the quarterback and they deserve a

lot of credit.

“It’s a very good football team that I think can challenge

somewhere in the Pacific Coast League. If anybody goes to sleep

against them, they’re going to get them.”

Senior Borotha Pov, a 315-pound noseguard, was among those who

stood out on defense for Mesa.

Perkins, whose Mustangs (1-2) begin their first season in the

Golden West League Friday against Ocean View (1-2) at Westminster

High, said Laguna Beach is one of three solid teams that have helped

his squad prepare for league play.

“I think we need to eliminate some mistakes, but I think we’ll be

fine,” Perkins said. “We’ve taken some good steps to be a playoff

team in the Golden West League. We’ve played some good teams and

we’ve seen some different looks and some very good players. I’d like

to have a better record, but if I have to lose one now to win one

later in league, so be it.”

Among the positives for the Mustangs Friday was continued success

by senior running back Keola Asuega, who picked up 198 rushing yards

to give him 556 for the season. He now has 2,437 for his varsity

career and did not appear, against the Breakers, to be slowed by

myriad leg ailments that have plagued him throughout his career.

Asuega also caught three passes for 44 yards, including a

27-yarder from senior quarterback Tim Iller.

Junior Omar Ruiz supplemented Asuega’s work behind and offensive

line of tackles Paul Martin and Rodrigo Gutierrez, guards Andrew

Carich and Brett Via, as well as center Luke Sapolu. Ruiz carried 13

times for 78 yards, a 6-yard average.

The ground attack helped the Mustangs string together drives of

11, 13, 11 and 10 plays, but the aforementioned miscues prevented any

of those processions from ending in points.

The Mustangs’ lone TD came after cornerback Luis Gonzalez returned

an interception 14 yards to the Laguna Beach 29 and a face-masking

penalty on the play moved it to the 14. Asuega scored four plays

later on a 2-yard run.

Mesa converted once in four fourth-down situations and a missed

32-yard field goal allowed Laguna Beach’s defense to up the team’s

nonleague winning streak to eight games.

“We went for it on fourth-and-one from our own 27-yard line, which

shows you the kind of confidence we have in our kids,” Perkins said.

“We think that’s the kind of offense we have.”

Perkins said his players were disappointed with their performance

and, upon arriving back at school Thursday night, held an impromptu

team meeting.

“They talked about personal responsibility and what steps everyone

would need to take to get better and make us a better team,” Perkins

said. “They immediately changed the focus from Laguna Beach to Ocean

View, which was good. We had a good film session and we think we’re

heading into league with a real positive situation.”

Another positive was the lack of serious injuries against Laguna

Beach.

Junior Epenesa left the game, first with what appeared to be a

shoulder injury, then later with a painful cramp in his calf.

Asuega also was sidelined briefly, but quickly returned to the

game.

Perkins said both Asuega and Epenesa should be fine this week.

In addition, junior Daniel Cheesboro is expected to make his debut

this week, after sitting out the first three games.

Perkins said transcripts have been difficult to obtain for

Cheeseboro, who attended Eisenhower in the fall semester and Martin

Luther King in the spring semester last year.

Perkins said he would be extra cautious and not let Cheeseboro to

play, until his eligibility could not be questioned.