Week 6 High School Football Preview: Costa Mesa vs. Santa Ana
![Costa Mesa coach Jimmy Nolan, shown during practice on Aug. 26, leads the Mustangs into their Orange Coast League opener against Santa Ana on Thursday.](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/d5b08a0/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2000x1308+0+0/resize/1200x785!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F1e%2F83%2Fb61c3762499492082874f44ef552%2Ftn-photos-staff-s1-daily-pilot-tn-dpt-sp-cm-costa-mesa-football-preview-20190826-4.jpg)
When/where: 7 p.m. Thursday at Santa Ana Stadium
Key Mustangs: So. RB/FS Joseph Islas; Sr. RB/CB Bryan Hernandez; Jr. WR/CB Alex Jennis
Key Saints: Jr. RB/LB Daimien Feliz; Jr. RB/DB Miguel Vaca; Jr. WR/DB Isaac Larriva
Breakdown: Costa Mesa (2-3) travels to play Santa Ana (2-3) as the teams start their Orange Coast League campaign ... The Mustangs are coming off a 39-27 loss to Kennedy, after which first-year coach Jimmy Nolan nevertheless praised his team’s fight. “We played tough,” Nolan said. “We showed some grit, which we’ve been lacking.” ... Jennis had two touchdown catches against Kennedy and has three touchdown grabs in the last two games ... Santa Ana is the defending league champion but last played in a 16-9 loss to Woodbridge on Sept. 20, giving the Warriors their first win of the season. The Saints had their bye week last week ... Santa Ana blanked Costa Mesa 79-0 last season and advanced to the CIF Southern Section Division 8 semifinals before losing 51-33 to eventual champion Fontana Kaiser ... Costa Mesa has lost 10 straight league games since beating Saddleback 6-0 in the final game of the Mustangs’ 2016 season.
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