Mesa edged out in OT

Bryce Alderton

The streak is over.

The Costa Mesa High football team’s undefeated run through the

Golden West League last year is now a memory as visiting Saddleback

handed the Mustangs a crushing 29-28 loss in overtime Friday night at

Orange Coast College.

Despite gaining just 7 yards on the ground to Mesa’s 223, the

Roadrunners avenged a 35-0 trouncing to the Mustangs in the league

finale a year ago and in heart-pounding fashion.

Senior tailback Ramiro Chavez scored the second of his two

touchdowns on a 2-yard run in the overtime period to even the score,

28-28. Saddleback called timeout and drew the Mustangs (2-2, 0-1 in

league) offsides on the two-point conversion, setting the ball near

the 1-yard line. Chavez bolted through the middle of the line for the

winning two points, and the Roadrunner bench erupted.

Saddleback head coach Jerry Witte motioned to one of his coaches

to grab his pack of cigarettes to calm his nerves.

“We were going for [the two-point] conversion all the way, we

weren’t going to play any more overtime,” said Witte, in his 30th

year at the school. “We couldn’t stay with [the Mustangs] anymore.”

Per league mandate, each team started possession on the opponents’

25 in overtime with no clock, allowing the chance to convert two

first downs.

Mesa senior tailback Omar Ruiz, who scored four touchdowns in the

game while amassing 234 yards on 33 carries, did all the work in the

overtime, scoring on first down from the 14 off the left side. Ryan

Bagwell’s extra point gave Mesa its first lead after it trailed at

halftime, 14-0. But Saddleback answered with a clutch 23-yard strike

from quarterback Guillermo Garcia to Nolan Kline on second down to

get the ball to the Mesa 2 and Chavez ran it in.

Each team committed three turnovers, with the Mustangs scoring

touchdowns on the final two takeaways in the second half.

Inside linebacker Cameron Wynglarz stripped the ball from the

tailback and cornerback Tony Krikorian recovered on the Saddleback 13

in the third quarter. Three plays later, Ruiz ran it in from 1 yard

to tie the score, 14-14 with 7:30 left in the period.

Senior defensive end Luke Sapolu stepped in front of a receiver to

intercept a Garcia pass in the fourth quarter and ran it back 6 yards

to the Roadrunner 6. Two plays later Ruiz scored from 5 yards to tie

the score again, 21-21.

The Roadrunners (2-2, 1-0 in league) scored first when George

Gomez grabbed a loose ball after a bad Mesa punt snap and scampered

10 yards for the touchdown and a 7-0 lead.