Mustangs seeking reward

Patrick Laverty

It’s often said that the biggest improvement for a football team

comes between its first and second games.

But what exactly does Costa Mesa High have to improve on?

The Mustangs dominated time of possession, showed a strong run

defense and good special teams, yet lost to Corona del Mar, 19-14, in

its season opener.

The Mustangs lost because they allowed three big pass plays, which

led to all three Sea Kings touchdowns.

This week, Costa Mesa (0-1), ranked No. 9 in CIF Southern Section

Division VII, will attempt to avoid the same fate against Division I

representative Huntington Beach (0-1), which committed more than a

few mistakes of its own in a 42-14 loss to Los Amigos last week. The

two teams meet at Huntington Beach High tonight at 7.

The Oilers had difficulty on special teams, specifically punting,

which resulted in three Los Amigos touchdowns. They also allowed Los

Amigos’ top running back to gain 111 yards on 16 carries, which

should bode well for the run-oriented Mustangs.

Huntington Beach’s 50 defense will present a new challenge for

Costa Mesa, running against an odd front compared to the even front

the Sea Kings played last week.

“We’re going to have to attack it differently, from different

angles,” Costa Mesa Coach Dave Perkins said. “It’s nothing we don’t

have in our package. It just presents a little bit of a challenge.”

Costa Mesa ran for 157 yards in the opening week, but quarterback

Bruce Wilkinson was sacked six times. losing 41 yards. The line was

playing without first-team All-Golden West League tackle Rodrigo

Gutierrez (sprained knee), who is expected to miss this week’s game

as well.

The Oilers like to grind it out, like Costa Mesa, but could have a

difficult time against a Mesa defense that held Corona del Mar to

just 2.6 yards per carry.

“I think our run defense is going to hold up,” Perkins said.

“People are going to have to beat us by throwing the ball.”

Huntington Beach quarterback Rory Schoonmaker completed 6 of 14

passes for 96 yards, with an interception in Week 1. He also ran 11

times for 29 yards. The Oilers’ leading rusher was Justin Montes, who

had 77 yards on 20 carries.

Schoonmaker will be going against a Mustang secondary that is

still adjusting to new roles. Safety Al Rodriguez, an all-league

cornerback last season, played his new position for the first time

last week and sophomore Tony Krikorian, who didn’t play football last

year, is expected to start at cornerback.

Both teams will be looking to avoid falling to 0-2 and Perkins

knows the battle will be fierce.

“We match up real well,” Perkins said. “It’s going to be a pretty

physical game. They’re a Sunset League team and those teams like to

mix it up and hit people. But we like to hit people too.”