Four Mesa football standouts All-CIF

Barry Faulkner

Senior running back Keola Asuega, the Newport-Mesa District Most

Valuable Player after leading Costa Mesa High to the Golden West

League championship, is among four Mustangs chosen All-CIF Southern

Section Division VII.

Asuega, a 6-foot, 210-pounder, is joined on the Division VII

offense by senior guard Andrew Carich. Mesa’s defensive honorees are

senior noseguard Borotha Pov and junior middle linebacker Junior

Epenesa.

Four All-CIF selections, chosen by a panel of section coaches and

announced Monday by the Southern Section office, is believed to be a

single-season high at Costa Mesa, where Coach Dave Perkins’ squad

went 8-3, losing in the first round of the CIF Playoffs.

The Mustangs had only two representatives named All-CIF after

reaching the Division VIII title game in 1993.

Asuega, who verbally committed to Idaho State Monday, completed a

sterling three-year varsity career by rushing for 2,023 yards on 253

carries last fall, despite missing one game with a hamstring injury.

Alternating between tailback and fullback, Asuega scored 21

touchdowns, upping his career touchdown total to 49, a Newport-Mesa

record.

Asuega rushed for at least 100 yards in his final nine games last

fall. Included in that run were five games of at least 200 yards,

topped by a career-high 284-yard performance in the league

title-clinching victory over Santa Ana. His 3,932 yards on 556 career

carries rank second on the all-time Newport-Mesa list, behind former

Mustang Binh Tran, who collected 4,333 yards from 1991-93. His 49

career TDs are four more than the total posted by former Newport

Harbor standout Steve Brazas from 1982-83.

Asuega had 19 career games with at least 100 yards, also a

Newport-Mesa record, and he scored at least one touchdown in 24 of

the 28 varsity games in which he carried the ball. He also had 13

multiple-TD games.

Also the Golden West League MVP as a senior, Asuega was first-team

All-Newport-Mesa and first-team All-Pacific Coast League as a junior.

The 6-0, 260-pound Carich played primarily at guard, but also saw

time at tackle as a senior. Though he missed time with a knee injury,

his leadership up front helped the Mustangs produce more than 86% of

their 3,582 offensive yards on the ground.

Carich, a two-time All-Newport-Mesa performer who was first-team

All-Golden West League as a senior and first-team All-Pacific Coast

League as a junior, was a powerful blocker who was also athletic

enough to operate on the run as a pulling guard. He saw spot duty on

the defensive line, particularly in short-yardage situations.

Pov, a 5-11, 305-pound anchor, was the Golden West League

Defensive Player of the Year and an All-Newport-Mesa selection. He

made 16 of his 47 tackles behind the line, including eight

quarterback sacks. He was also credited with 11 quarterback hurries

and proved virtually unblockable by a single opponent, prompting foes

to double- and triple-team him. This freed things up for his

defensive mates in the double-flex scheme.

The 6-2, 215-pound Epenesa led the team in tackles with 84,

including 11 sacks. After missing much of his sophomore season due to

injury, his quickness, strength and aggressiveness often led to

crowd-pleasing hits. With Epenesa and Pov controlling the middle, the

Mesa defense surrendered only 51 points during a seven-game winning

streak that concluded the regular season. Included in that stretch

were shutouts of Golden West League foes Estancia and Saddleback.

Senior Daniel Al Gattas of Walnut is the Offensive Player of the

Year in Division VII, while senior Chande Dunleavy of South Hills is

Defensive Player of the Year. Steve Bogan, who led South Hills to the

title, is Coach of the Year.