Mustangs unseated

Patrick Laverty

Repeating one’s success is one of the hardest achievements in sports,

if not in life.

Costa Mesa High’s football team has found that out firsthand this

season.

The Mustangs, the defending Golden West League champions, were all

but mathematically eliminated from the 2003 league championship race

Thursday after Orange produced a convincing 21-3 victory over the

Mustangs at El Modena High.

The loss dropped Costa Mesa (4-3, 1-2 in league) 2 1/2 games

behind the Panthers (5-1, 4-0). The Mustangs have three league games

remaining, Orange only two.

“They played like a championship team tonight and we didn’t,”

Costa Mesa Coach Dave Perkins said.

Mesa’s defense, to which this season’s championship hopes had been

attached, finally met its match in Orange’s double-wing offense. The

quick flips to the wingbacks, who followed a team of blockers off

tackle, resulted in 241 yards rushing for the Panthers.

In its previous six games combined this season, the Mustangs had

limited opponents to 243 yards rushing.

Senior Justin Jones and sophomore Daniel Chairez did most of the

damage for Orange. Jones rushed for 145 yards on 27 carries, becoming

the first player to surpass 100 yards against Costa Mesa this season.

Chairez added 88 yards on 16 carries and scored two touchdowns.

“Overall, I thought we played pretty well [on defense],” Perkins

said. “There were a couple of fourth-down plays we stopped. They had

only two drives all night and both of those were short drives. You’ve

got to make that offense go 80 yards because they’ll make mistakes

and they’ll turn the ball over.”

But the Panthers’ only turnover came when quarterback Mitch Eaton

fumbled on fourth down late in the first quarter after Mesa

linebacker Jeff Waldron had already stopped him short of the

first-down marker.

That gave the Mustangs the ball near midfield, but after gaining a

first down on a pass from Bruce Wilkinson to Tony Krikorian, Mesa

lost yardage on consecutive plays and was forced to punt.

The short drive was typical of the Mustangs’ night on offense.

They would put together a few first downs, but around midfield or

shortly after, the drive would come to a halt.

“We’d get a first down and then on first down get a loss or we’d

make a mistake that would put us in some kind of hole,” Perkins said.

Those holes, combined with Orange’s 14-3 halftime lead, led to

Wilkinson throwing 19 passes, a number much higher than the original

game plan intended, and kept Mesa to a season-low in points, which

surprised both coaches.

“Our defense stepped up huge,” Orange Coach Greg Gibson said.

“[Defensive coordinator] Bill Backstrom put in a game plan and the

kids carried it out.”

On the other side of the ball, Jones and Chairez carried the

Panthers. From the outset, the two backs, neither of them

particularly large in size, showed an ability to break tackles and to

carry Mesa defenders for extra yards.

After Mesa opened the game with an impressive drive of 5:31 that

resulted in a 34-yard Ryan Bagwell field goal, the Panthers drove 65

yards to take the lead on a 9-yard run by James Peni. A 23-yard

completion from Panthers quarterback Mitch Eaton to tight end Eric

Doyle on third down keyed the drive. Eaton attempted just six passes,

but completed four for 49 yards.

Chairez pushed the Panthers’ advantage to 14-3 with 6:50 remaining

in the second quarter with a 5-yard touchdown run. The score came

after an eight-play drive that consumed 79 yards, 43 of which came on

a Jones run. Chairez and Jones accounted for all 79 yards on the

drive.

The Mustangs crossed midfield just once the remainder of the game.

On their first drive of the second half, they held the ball for five

minutes, 28 seconds, but an interception at the Panthers’ 31-yard

line stopped the momentum.

Desperate for points, Mesa attempted a fake punt from its 9-yard

line with 4:38 remaining in the game, but an overthrown pass fell

incomplete.

Chairez scored on a 9-yard touchdown run three plays later,

pushing the lead to 21-3.

With their league title hopes fading away and a losing record in

league play, the Mustangs now turn their focus to making the CIF

Southern Section Division VII playoffs.

“If we win three in a row, we have a very good shot at the

playoffs,” Perkins said. “At the least, we have a very good shot at

the wild card.

“We’ve got Estancia next week. We’ll be ready.”