Mustangs sustain a potentially big blow

Patrick Laverty

Costa Mesa High is as deep as it has been since Dave Perkins took

over as coach three seasons ago and as Friday’s three-way scrimmage

against Tustin and Long Beach Cabrillo proved, the Mustangs will need

that depth.

Every coach’s nightmare became a reality for Perkins when one of

his top returning players, first-team all-league left tackle Rodrigo

Gutierrez, went down with what could be a broken right leg in the

latter stages of the scrimmage at Tustin High.

Gutierrez left the field in an ambulance and the exact nature of

the injury was unknown.

“Rodrigo has never been hurt before so we don’t know how bad it

is,” Perkins said. “It could be a break, it might just be a knee

injury. I’m not a doctor. But hopefully, it’s not going to be a major

deal.”

The Mustangs were playing offense against Cabrillo and had a

first-and-goal at the 10-yard line. Quarterback Bruce Wilkinson was

chased out of the pocket and as a trio of defenders tracked him down,

Gutierrez was caught standing and went down.

An inflatable splint was put on Gutierrez’s leg until the

paramedics arrived. Meanwhile, play was moved to the other end of the

field.

Replacing the 6-foot-4, 275-pound junior in the lineup Friday,

with the expectation the he will also do so in the Mustangs’ opener

Friday against Corona del Mar and possibly for the remainder of the

season, was 6-1, 245-pound junior Joe Ortiz.

Ortiz will be stepping into an offensive line that struggled

against Cabrillo and Tustin, but Costa Mesa had many struggles

against two programs from higher divisions. The Tillers have had a

strong football program for years and play in Division VI. Cabrillo,

which finished 5-5 in the Division VI Suburban League in 2002, moves

into the Moore League alongside national powerhouse Long Beach Poly

this season.

The Mustangs, the defending Golden West League champions who lost

in the first round of the Division VII playoffs last year, scrimmaged

against Magnolia and La Quinta, both of which play in Division IX,

last season.

“We got lulled into a feeling of complacency playing two teams

from lower divisions,” Perkins said of the reasoning behind the

stiffer competition this season.

Costa Mesa should go back to practice Monday knowing they have

some things to work on.

The Mustangs started well, playing offense against Cabrillo. On a

third-and-six play, Wilkinson connected with Jeff Waldron on a

17-yard pass for a first down. Costa Mesa drove down to the Cabrillo

27-yard line, but on fourth-and-nine Wilkerson was pressured and

forced to run in an attempt to pick up a first down. He was tackled 4

yards short.

The drive was the highlight of the scrimmage for Costa Mesa, which

had trouble tackling, couldn’t keep pressure off Wilkinson and showed

confusion on special teams.

“I thought we played well early,” Perkins said. “It’s kind of a

double-edged sword. We didn’t tackle well, but Tustin’s got a player

of the year running back (Marcus Malcolm) and Cabrillo’s got three or

four guys who could start for any team in our league.”

The teams took turns playing offense and defense, with each team

running 10 plays before switching. Offenses began at their own

35-yard line and the ball was moved up and down the field as in an

ordinary game. If a team scored or was stopped on fourth down, the

ball returned to the 35-yard line and things started over again.

The defense struggled against Tustin from the outset. On the

Tillers’ first three plays, they broke off rushes of 4, 16 and 45

yards, though the latter was called back because of a penalty.

Two plays later, Tustin broke lose for another 25-yard gain and,

four plays after that, scored on a 10-yard run.

The Mustangs allowed a 58-yard touchdown run to Cabrillo.

Offensively, Wilkinson was sacked six times and just barely

avoided a few others.

“Our pass protection wasn’t good,” Perkins said. “But we haven’t

thrown the ball that much and, again, we’re playing against two

really good teams.”

On special teams -- the squads went through a series of punts and

point-after-touchdown attempts -- the Mustangs looked shaky on punt

returns, with Luis Gonzalez and Jorge Quiroz, the deep men, and

up-back Junior Epenesa, lacking communication and nearly committing a

pair of turnovers.

“We’re still looking for a guy back there,” Perkins said. “We may

just rush 11.”

That wouldn’t come as a surprise, not after Costa Mesa started the

scrimmage with a fake punt, where punter Jeff Waldron completed a

pass to Gonzalez, and then ran the swinging gate on the its first PAT

attempt, which Wilkinson, after receiving a shotgun snap, bootlegged

into the end zone two points.