By Michael Lebbin
Staff Writer
Coming off a great win against undefeated West, the Mustangs faced another tough competitor, Palos Verdes High School. The Mustangs lost 35-0 on October 18 at Waller Stadium.
Costa played great in the first quarter keeping the game tied, but then everything went downhill from there. The Sea Kings’ offensive and defensive game plan was too much for the Mustangs, which led to their defeat.
“Their defensive and offensive game was hard to compete with,” sophomore quarterback Jacob Silvera said. “We needed better blocking and we did not execute our game plan very well. They just outplayed us.”
The first quarter was looking up for the Mustangs when senior linebacker Brandon Mills recovered a fumble with ten minutes to go. The Mustangs scored no points on the ensuing drive and later punted to the Sea Kings’ 36 yard line.
“Absolutely nothing went right for our offense,” head coach Don Morrow said. “Whoever was calling the plays did not do a very good job of it.”
In the first quarter the Sea Kings and the Mustangs were trading possessions on offense. Neither offense could get the ball past the other teams defense. Costa’s defense continued to play aggressively.
“Our defense was great in the first quarter which is what kept us in the game,” Silvera said.
With four minutes left in the second quarter, the Sea Kings scored on a 59 yard touchdown pass, making the score 7-0. The Mustangs were outplayed both offensively and defensively, which caused them to lose.
“We need to work on our offense with better passes and a better game plan,” Silvera said. “If we work on the little details in practice then we will come out strong and win more games.”
In the third quarter, Palos Verdes returned a punt for a touchdown. Senior running back Tanner Otto was injured on the play. Otto was diagnosed with a concussion and was unable to return to the game.
“It is unfortunate what happened to Tanner,” Morrow said. “We think he will be okay because there was a lot of medical personnel at the game and they returned him to his parents. He will be out for a little while but he will return.”
Costa had to punt on fourth down giving the Sea Kings extra opportunities to score. Palos Verdes took advantage of the Mustangs’ punts and prevailed with a win of 35-0, after a bad night for Costa.
“We have had bad losses before and we just need to hang in there because we have a new game and another tough team to play next Friday,” Morrow said.
Mira Costa’s next game is an away game against Peninsula High School on October 25 at 3 p.m.
“Peninsula has improved vastly with two new coaches,” Morrow said. “We are concerned because this is our first day game and my players are not use to that. We need a good practice week to get ready for our game.”
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