Mustangs hoping to roar past Lions

Patrick Laverty

Costa Mesa High’s football team put itself in its current predicament

when it was upset by Saddleback earlier this season. But the Mustangs

also know one way of escaping that predicament.

“Stop Brooks,” Mustangs Coach Dave Perkins said, referring to

Westminster senior running back Carlos Brooks.

If Costa Mesa can stop Brooks and fight off the Lions Friday at

Newport Harbor High, it will give itself not only a good shot at a

possible three-way tie for second place, but will almost assure

itself of an at-large berth if it does not receive the help it needs

for the second-place tie.

The Mustangs (5-3, 2-2 in league), ranked eighth in CIF Southern

Section Division VII, are tied for third place with Saddleback (3-5,

2-2). Both teams trail Westminster (7-1, 4-0), ranked No. 4, and

Orange (7-1, 4-0) by two games.

Saddleback closes the season with games against Santa Ana (4-4,

1-3) and Ocean View (2-6, 1-4), two games it should win. Costa Mesa

meets Santa Ana in the season finale. If the Mustangs can beat

Westminster this week, they will likely finish 4-2 in league, tied

with Saddleback.

But the Roadrunners hold the tiebreaker over the Mustangs because

of their head-to-head victory, so if Mesa wants an automatic playoff

berth, it must win its last two games and get some help, namely from

Orange, which meets Westminster in the finale. If Orange can win that

game, it would cause a three-way tie for second place, meaning a coin

flip would decide the second and third automatic playoff berths out

of the league.

Of course, this hypothetical situation means nothing if the

Mustangs can’t stop Brooks and beat Westminster.

Brooks has rushed for 131 yards per game and scored 14 touchdowns

this season. But he hasn’t had to face Costa Mesa’s staunch run

defense.

The Mustangs have allowed just 69 yards rushing per game this

season. Take away Orange, which ran for 241 yards against Costa Mesa,

and that average drops to 44 yards per game.

Brooks, running out of the I-formation, will look to get outside

on sweep plays.

“We’ve got to keep him contained, keep him from getting outside

the hash marks,” Perkins said.

The Mustangs have defensive ends Marc Daniels and Qualic Vargas

assigned to containment and a solid group of linebackers that

includes Jeff Waldron, Brett Via, Junior Epenesa, Luke Sapolu and

Gary Gonzalez.

Mesa also has an offense that is capable of putting up points

should the Lions be able to break big plays, which is something they

have shown themselves capable of.

Senior tailback Omar Ruiz has more yards than Brooks (1,245 to

1,051). If the Lions crowd the line of scrimmage, like they did in

last season’s 11-10 Costa Mesa victory, the Mustangs can go to the

passing game led by junior quarterback Bruce Wilkinson (52 of 99 for

749 yards).

“The last two years, our problem has been trying to get their 10

guys out of the box,” Perkins said.