Royal guards lead Mesa

BARRY FAULKNER

They are, relatively speaking, the glamour guys of the Costa Mesa

High offensive line.

Bryce Carich on the left and David Vernotico on the right, are, in

fact, the royal guards for the Mustangs, thundering around the corner

almost as often as the running backs do.

The Costa Mesa High ground game has amassed 1,988 yards this season, including 268 Thursday night in a 41-0 Golden West League

football victory over crosstown rival Estancia at Orange Coast

College.

Carich, a 6-foot-2, 260-pound junior, and Vernotico, a 5-7,

220-pound senior, have covered nearly as much ground. They roll up

the roadwork either chasing linebackers in the neutral zone or, more

frequently, pulling to lead sweeps and counters around the edge.

Sometimes, both pull on the same play.

And, contrary to perception, they actually like leaving the

trenches behind, rumbling toward often reluctant members of the

defense, who must either take them on or try to gracefully avoid a

collision they are sure to lose.

“I love pulling,” said Vernotico, who along with the rest of his

linemates, have helped Mesa senior tailback Omar Ruiz surpass the

1,200-yard rushing plateau, with at least two games remaining. “It’s

the funnest part of the game.”

Carich, who strikes a more imposing and somewhat less nimble

figure bearing down on defenders, said he has worked hard to improve

what line coaches generically dub “feet.”

“I don’t have as good a feet as I would like,” Carich said. “But,

ever since the off-season, our starting five has worked on our feet.”

Not leaving one’s feet is the key for a good open-field blocker,

though the bigger the load, the more difficult it is to direct into

an opponent. The decision on who to block is also a factor, when the

big boys unleash entirety.

“I have a read, but I usually just try to block the first

different-colored jersey I see,” Vernotico said.

Carich wouldn’t admit it, but his grin gave him away when asked if

he was actually disappointed when the Mustangs called a pass play.

“Well,” he said after a diplomatic pause, “you’ve got to live with

both.”

The Mustangs barely broached their passing game Thursday, scoring

all six touchdowns on the ground, divided evenly between Ruiz (137

yards on 19 carries), Qualic Vargas (54 yards on four attempts) and

Junior Epenesa (47 yards on 10 carries).

It wasn’t long before Vernotico and Carich began discovering Eagle

defenders in retreat.

“There are times when you can see they’re a little scared,” Carich

said.

Vernotico also confirmed what was apparent as the game, and Costa

Mesa’s consistent dominance, progressed.

“Sometimes, they would run backward, yeah,” he said.

And while offensive line coach Jesse Sapolu, a former All-Pro

center for the San Francisco 49ers, is proud of his two border

guards, he said sharing the credit among the entire front wall is

most wise.

“I talk all the time about all five guys getting the credit,” said

Sapolu, whose starters also include senior center Luke Sapolu (5-11,

250), senior tackle Zenri Kato (6-3, 285) and junior tackle Rodrigo

Gutierrez (6-4, 275).

“We work everyday on our guards pulling, but, nothing works unless

the three inside guys can cut off penetration. Sometimes, the blocks

that aren’t prime time [in the open field where spectators can more

readily see them] , are the most important.

“Bryce did a hell of a job tonight and we went behind him. The

Laguna Beach game [A 41-13 nonleague victory Sept. 26], we featured

Dave a little more.”

*

The Costa Mesa offense’s strong performance was rivaled by that of

the Mustangs’ defense, as the hosts posted their first shutout of the

season and their second straight against Estancia.

Estancia managed just 98 yards of total offense, 54 of which came

on a David Moreno sprint off right tackle early in the fourth

quarter.

*

Costa Mesa’s victory was its third in a row over the Eagles and

marked the fifth straight in the Battle for the Bell series by Mesa

Coach Dave Perkins, who guided Estancia to victory his final two

seasons across town.

Costa Mesa has now outscored Estancia, 103-6, during the recent

rivalry winning streak and has closed the Estancia lead in the series

to 20-16-1.