Breakers capture league title

LAGUNA BEACH — Maybe an extra week to prepare for outright Orange Coast League championship games isn’t a good thing for the Costa Mesa High football team.

Giving a team a 22-point advantage isn’t always going to bode well. The Mustangs did it again in the big game, spotting the same lead to the same team as last year.

For the second straight year, the Mustangs looked rusty at the start against Laguna Beach and found themselves in a huge hole after coming off their bye week Friday night.

On the road, Costa Mesa stood no chance to come back again against the Breakers in a regular-season finale.

Costa Mesa literally threw away a chance to make history.

Laguna Beach returned two interceptions for touchdowns and another to set up a field goal in the second quarter and went on to win, 49-34, ruining Costa Mesa’s three-peat attempt in league.

This time when the Breakers jumped ahead of Costa Mesa early, they sealed the deal. Laguna Beach (5-5, 4-0 in league) earned its first league title since 2006.

Much like last year’s contest between these two programs, the game turned into a shootout. Costa Mesa stormed back for a 38-30 home victory last year. This one ended with Costa Mesa (6-4, 3-1), ranked No. 7 in the CIF Southern Section Southern Division poll, unable to catch up.

The Mustangs’ eight-game league winning streak dating back to the 2007 season is gone.

“It hurts because we wanted [to three-peat] so bad,” Costa Mesa Coach Jeremy Osso said. “Anytime you want something bad, and you don’t get it, it’s going to hurt.

“We shot ourselves in the foot a bunch of times. You can’t point to one thing because there [were] so many [mistakes].”

In all, Costa Mesa committed five turnovers (four interceptions and one fumble). Penalties plagued the Mustangs as well.

Laguna Beach capitalized on Costa Mesa’s miscues and prevailed behind its misdirection running game out of shotgun. Senior Alec Jaffe finished with 146 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries and sophomore Norton Penney scored twice on the ground.

The Breakers’ capped their latest championship season the same way they last did in 2006: undefeated in league play. After seeing Costa Mesa win league the previous two years, Laguna Beach once again became champion of the Orange Coast League, which is in its fourth season.

The Breakers earned the league’s No. 1 entry into the CIF Southern Section Southern Division playoffs, which begin next week. Costa Mesa is No. 2. Both teams on Sunday learn their respective opponents in the first round.

Osso had a few words for his team after the setback.

“Our season is not over,” Osso said. “It’s not like we’re going home tomorrow. We still have another game we have to play.”

The playoffs haven’t been kind to Costa Mesa. The program’s last postseason victory was in 1997.

A devastating loss might make it much more difficult for the Mustangs to rebound from heading into the playoffs.

Things looked ugly at halftime for Costa Mesa as it trailed, 36-14.

The game got away from the Mustangs after Josh Erno’s 67-yard touchdown run out of the Wildcat formation cut Laguna Beach’s lead to 13-7 late in the first quarter.

Three interceptions in the second quarter turned the championship into a lopsided affair for the Breakers.

While driving in Laguna Beach territory, Derek Reigel intercepted a pass and returned it 62 yards for a touchdown. Another interception on the Mustangs’ next possession set up a field goal.

The third pick of the quarter went to Laguna Beach’s Ethan Quirarte. With five seconds left before halftime, he returned the interception 35 yards for a touchdown.

By halftime, it appeared Laguna Beach had a chance at surpassing the school record for points in a game. Seventy is the mark, which was set in 1945.

The Mustangs tried to keep up in the third quarter. Luis Gomez scored on a 22-yard run two minutes in, making it a 15-point game. The Breakers answered with some trickery.

Chris Paul is the guy who catches touchdowns for Laguna Beach, but on third-and-18 near midfield, the wide receiver on a reverse fired a 42-yard strike to Reigel. Taking over on the Mustangs’ five-yard line, Jaffe scored on a run on the following play.

“They run a trick play and we just don’t turn around and make a play on the ball,” Osso said.

Laguna Beach 49, Costa Mesa 34

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Costa Mesa 7-7-14-6--34

Laguna Beach 13-23-13-0--49 

FIRST QUARTER

LB – Penney 3 run (Paxson kick), 9:25.

LB – Paul 28 pass from Paxson (kick failed), 3:27.

CM – Erno 67 run (Farfan kick), 2:23.

SECOND QUARTER

LB – Jaffe 1 run (Paxson kick), 9:40.

LB – Reigel 62 interception return (Paxson kick), 7:21.

LB – Paxson 32 FG, 5:27.

CM – Sheffner 2 run (Farfan kick), 1:41.

LB – Quirarte 35 interception return (run failed), 0:05.

THIRD QUARTER

CM – Gomez 22 run (Farfan kick), 10:01.

LB – Jaffe 5 run (Paxson kick), 7:14.

CM – Waldron 28 pass from Davis (Farfan kick), 5:43.

LB – Penney 22 run (pass failed), 3:33.

FOURTH QUARTER

CM – Sheffner 2 run (kick blocked), 6:51.

INDIVIDUAL RUSHING

CM – Erno, 9-178, 1 TD; Sheffner, 10-33, 2 TDs; Gomez, 6-43, 1 TD; Davis, 3-22.

LB – Jaffe, 28-146, 2 TDs; Penney, 13-63, 2 TDs; Paul, 2-10; Paxson, 2-minus 12.

INDIVIDUAL PASSING

CM – Davis, 7-17-3, 125, 1 TD; Erno, 0-1-1.

LB – Paxson, 7-16-0, 127, 1 TD; Paul, 1-1-0, 42.

INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING

CM – Waldron, 5-101, 1 TD; Gomez, 1-13; Rangel, 1-11.

LB – Paul, 3-69, 1 TD; Penney, 4-58; Reigel, 1-42.