By Sierra Williams
Sports Editor
The Mira Costa Varsity football team began their season with a loss of 42-6 against Notre Dame High School on August 30 in Sherman Oaks. Competing against Notre Dame, one of the area’s top ranked high school football teams, Costa had their hands full.
After receiving the kick off Costa was on the attack before senior running back Sebastian Franck-Love fumbled in the third minute of the game. After the fumble Notre Dame scored within seven minutes of the first quarter. Notre Dame continued to be aggressive until Costa sacked their quarterback.
“We moved the ball well on our first two drives, but lost the ball due to turnovers and penalties,” senior wide receiver PJ Onusconich said. “Unfortunately we could not stop their run game and answer their scores.”
Notre Dame scored again in the first six minutes of the second half. Costa’s defense was unable to draw a play and lost valuable yardage. After a pass to their tight end, Notre dame scored, making the score 21-0. After that, Franck-Love broke away into Notre Dame territory. Costa continued to charge towards seven yard line with 16 seconds left in the first half. Towards the end, senior kicker Casey Sublette made a field goal awarding Costa with 3 points.
“We can do better, we spent a lot of time Saturday morning after the game watching the films,” head coach Don Morrow said. “A lot of it is just fundamental football stuff. We did not tackle very well, we did not block very well, and we turned the ball over a couple of times.”
In the third quarter, Costa recovered a fumble on Notre Dame’s 40 yard line. Costa continued to progress to Notre Dame’s 16 yard line. Another field goal was scored by Sublette making the score 21-6. Notre Dame kept playing an aggressive game and scored two touchdowns throughout the third quarter as Costa’s defense collapsed. The quarter ended with a score of 35-6.
“I expected them to be a pretty good team overall with speed and strength,” sophomore quarterback Jacob Silvera said. “I thought we had many opportunities to get touchdowns that we could not follow through with. We have a lot to improve on.”
In the final quarter of the game Notre Dame scored on an 85 yard kick return. Ending the game with a score of 42-6. Costa’s defensive playing was the main deficiency as Notre Dame’s offensive game was well put together.
“I think if we come together and play football better as a team we can have a great season,” Silvera said. “We have a lot of great players that can make great plays and we need them in order to have a great season.”
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